The number of retail fuel stations offering E15 is expected to double to 2,800
by 2021, ethanol industry group Growth Energy said on Wednesday. 

Growth projected that the 2,800 stations offering E15 will boost U.S. ethanol
consumption by 350 million gal/year. E15 is now offered at more than 1,400
stations across 30 states, the group said, adding that more than 4 billion
miles have been driven on the higher ethanol blend of fuel.

The ethanol industry has sponsored a "Prime the Pump" campaign focused on
building the infrastructure and pumps necessary for distributing higher biofuel
blends, such as E15, and the group said the nonprofit organization has been a
driving force behind the increase and the commitment of additional retail
locations.

Retailers currently offering higher blends of ethanol include Casey's, Cenex,
Family Express, Holiday, Kum & Go, Kwik Trip, MAPCO, Minnoco, Murphy USA,
Protec Fuel, QuikTrip, RaceTrac, Rutter's, Sheetz and Thorntons.

Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor said the success of the "Prime the Pump" program
"is at risk" if industry efforts to secure a Reid vapor pressure (RVP) waiver
for E15 are not realized. 

"It's a major obstruction for those going the extra mile to expand into new
markets and grow our industry," Skor said in a statement. "Retailers in many
markets simply can't or won't retool their labels and fuel offerings each
summer, which means that E15 is off the menu all year [and] what's at stake is7
billion new gallons of ethanol demand."

Sales of the higher ethanol blend are barred in much of the country from June 1
through Sept. 30 because it doesn't have the RVP waiver. 

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt last week told farmers at a Kansas ethanol plant
that he believes that E15 should be available year-round and that EPA has the
statutory authority to provide the RVP waiver. That comes after President
Donald Trump said this spring that he supports year-round sales of the higher
ethanol blend.

An RVP waiver that would permit the year-round sale of E15 throughout the U.S.
was said to be part of a compromise deal the White House was attempting to
broker between the ethanol industry and merchant refiners, who have raised
concerns about the costs of complying with the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). 

Those efforts, however, were postponed indefinitely earlier this month after
Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, both Iowa Republicans, persuaded the
president to abandon the overall agreement at the last minute because they
objected to language in the deal that would have assigned Renewable
Identification Number credits to U.S. ethanol sold abroad. 

Meanwhile, E15 sales in Minnesota hit a record 23.24 million gal in the first
four months of 2018, a total that already exceeded sales for all of last year,
the Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association (MBA) said earlier this month, citing data
compiled by the state's Department of Commerce.

The industry group also said sales in the first four months of 2018 were 21%
above the 19.05 million gal of E15 sold in all of 2017.

--Molly White, mwhite@opisnet.com



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