Fight to lift US E15 sales restrictions creates strange bedfellows among oil, biofuel groups

In a rare move, oil, biofuel and farm groups are all on the same page, rallying together to champion swift action on legislation that would do away with a summertime ban on sales of a gasoline blend containing 15% ethanol.

Oil refiners and biofuel producers have oft been at odds over regulations setting the amount of renewable fuel that must be mixed with gasoline and diesel each year. But on the issue of E15, they were united in support of a legislative solution to inconsistent fuel volatility regulations that have created barriers to fuel marketers and retailers offering E15 to US drivers.


While E10, which contains 10% ethanol and 90% gasoline, is widely accepted and available from retailers across the country year-round, current law prohibits the sale of E15 in conventional gasoline markets, which make up about 70% of the US gasoline market, from June 1 to Sept. 15 due to Environmental Protection Agency restrictions on air pollution from gasoline.


"Though oil and biofuel groups have fought like cats and dogs over the years, they have a common goal of limiting uncertainty and curtailing litigation expenses," Corey Lavinsky, global manager of biofuels analytics at S&P Global Commodity Insights, said Nov. 22. "Proposed legislation needs to overcome many hurdles before it becomes law. E15 use has expanded considerably in 2022, but laws restricting its use in the summer remain the status quo until new ones are passed."