US refiner Andeavor, now being bought by rival Marathon, has saved $100m from lower compliance costs under the country’s Renewable Fuel Standard after the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) controversially gave the company a financial hardship waiver. The waiver was granted in 2014 to allow companies like Marathon and Valero Energy Corp (VLO.N) to sell their ethanol blend at higher prices than they would have been allowed to. The biofuels lobby says the EPA is undermining demand by wrongly granting waivers. The EPA said it tended to grant fewer than 10 waivers each year, although it has granted more than 20 such waivers in recent months.
US refiner Andeavor, now being bought by rival Marathon, has saved $100m from lower compliance costs under the country’s Renewable Fuel Standard after the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) controversially gave the company a financial hardship waiver. Under the Renewable Fuel Standard US refiners either have to mix biofuels into their fuel or take credits from competitors that do. The biofuels lobby says the EPA is undermining demand by wrongly granting waivers. The EPA said it tended to grant fewer than 10 waivers each year, although it has granted more than 20 such waivers in recent months.