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RFG INVENTORIES RISE AS SALES DATE APPROACHES IN U.S.

Jan. 2, 1995

Stocks of reformulated gasoline were building as the deadline approached for start of sales of the cleaner burning gasoline in parts of the U.S. The Energy Information Administration reported RFG stocks stood at 44.3 million bbl the week ending last Dec. 16. It was the latest tally of inventories and production issued by the federal agency. The Dec. 16 volume was up 600,000 bbl from the previous week. EIA's Dec. 21, 1994, report said U.S. production of RFG averaged a little more than 2.2

Stocks of reformulated gasoline were building as the deadline approached for start of sales of the cleaner burning gasoline in parts of the U.S.

The Energy Information Administration reported RFG stocks stood at 44.3 million bbl the week ending last Dec. 16. It was the latest tally of inventories and production issued by the federal agency.

The Dec. 16 volume was up 600,000 bbl from the previous week.

EIA's Dec. 21, 1994, report said U.S. production of RFG averaged a little more than 2.2 million b/d Dec. 16 for the third straight week. RFG imports averaged 78,000 b/d.

RFG sales were to begin Jan. I in selected regions of 17 states and the District of Columbia under provisions of the Clean Air Act amendments of 1990. Feared shortages failed to show up as the Jan. I deadline drew near (OGJ, Dec. 26, 1994, p. 20).

The Environmental Protection Agency has said it will not enforce RFG sales requirements in 28 counties of western Pennsylvania and eight counties in New York. Governments there asked for a pullout from federal standards.

However, EPA must still go through a formal rulemaking to officially allow those areas to leave the program. EIA estimates those so-called optouts could reduce RFG use by about 170,000 b/d, or 7% of anticipated RFG demand.

REGIONAL BREAKOUTS

EIA's mid-December report showed the largest inventory and production of RFG in Petroleum Administration for Defense Dist. (PADD) 1, the East Coast.

There, inventories stood at 25.1 million bbl, or a little more than 56% of the national total. Buildup amounted to 14.6 million bbl in only 1 month.

PADD I production of RFG was 756,000 b/d during the week ending Dec. 16, more than double the volume of the same week in the preceding month. The latest volume, however, was off from the intervening weeks.

PADD III, the Gulf Coast, stood in the No. 2 spot in RFG inventory and production. The region had 11 million bbl of RFG on hand the week ending Dec. 16, up from 8.4 million bbl in the same week of November, It produced 729,000 b/d, up from 641,000 b/d.