Ethanol Has Squeezed The Market

The SunHerald has an interesting interview with Tom Kovar, the new general manager of of Chevron’s Pascagoula Refinery. In the interview he made a comment about ethanol that I thought was interesting.

Kovar called the business climate “difficult.” The nation’s demand for gasoline has decreased and isn’t expected to return, he said. And U.S. fuel now contains 10 percent ethanol.

To put that in perspective, he pointed out that the country’s appetite for fuel requires refining nine million barrels a day. Ten percent of that is 900,000 barrels, he said.

“That’s the output of seven or eight refineries,” he said. “It has squeezed the market.”