http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/19962/story.htm
Valero finds advantage in gasoline blend USA: February 26, 2003 HOUSTON - Not following its competitors in the California gasoline market has made money for Valero Energy Corp. (VLO.N), a spokeswoman told Reuters this week, but analysts say the company isn't crowing about it. "They really don't mention the advantage of sticking with CARB," said Fadel Gheit, senior energy analyst with Fahnestock & Co. Inc. "This particular attribute is not something they are highlighting." CARB is the shorthand name for a blend of gasoline mandated by the state that is mixed with Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (MTBE) an additive that reduces tailpipe emissions. "There is an advantage to be selling CARB," said Valero spokeswoman Mary Rose Brown. Most refiners switched to making a different gasoline blend called CARBOB, which uses ethanol instead of MTBE, at the beginning of the year. Valero and fellow San Antonio-based refiner Tesoro Petroleum Corp. (TSO.N) did not, opting to wait until being required to switch to CARBOB at the beginning of 2004. Since the beginning of this year, the wholesale price for CARB has been running about 4 cents per gallon higher than CARBOB. Last week, the difference was even wider with CARB at times priced eight cents higher than CARBOB. Valero won't say how much money it is making from being one of two big refiners producing CARB, but price did play a role in the company changing its mind about making small amounts of CARBOB this year. "We at one time said we were going to make some CARBOB this year, but we looked at it and the economics weren't there," Brown said. A Tesoro spokesperson was unavailable for comment. A CARBOB price spike was expected as shortages of the new gasoline were expected. Those shortages have not developed, but price jumps may occur as refiners begin making the summer formula of CARBOB, analysts have said. The switch to CARBOB is being mandated by the state to reduce pollution from automotive fuels. MTBE and ethanol both cut the amount of waste in the car exhausts, but MTBE has been found in California groundwater, raising fears of another source of pollution from the fuel. Last year, the state pushed back the date from switching to CARBOB from Jan. 1, 2003 to Jan. 1 2004. REUTERS NEWS SERVICE Biofuels at Journey to Forever http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuel at WebConX http://webconx.green-trust.org/2000/biofuel/biofuel.htm List messages are archived at the Info-Archive at NNYTech: http://archive.nnytech.net/ To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
