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It is probable from this report that the transition away from MTBE to gasolines blended with ethanol is causing problems with inventories of gasoline.

Ironically, it is not OIL that is causing the problem but the method for how gasoline is being refined may have something to do with gasoline supplies.

1 posted on 04/26/2006 10:27:00 AM PDT by topher
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To: topher
The article refers to Figure 4. Click on the link below to view this PDF document that is referenced in the article.

Figure 4 in the Weekly Petroleum Status Report (WPSR)

The chart does show a dramatic drop, but I am not sure why...

2 posted on 04/26/2006 10:30:52 AM PDT by topher (Let us return to old-fashioned morality - morality that has stood the test of time...)
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To: topher
The article explains that MBTE (which is being phased out on the East Coast and parts of Texas) is blended at the refinery.

Alcohol (ethanol) is apparently added elsewhere, and I guess this is hard for the DOE to track (supplies of Ethanol).

Maybe the oil companies are headed into the moonshine business to brew up some alcohol... [attempt at humor]

4 posted on 04/26/2006 10:38:47 AM PDT by topher (Let us return to old-fashioned morality - morality that has stood the test of time...)
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To: topher

5 posted on 04/26/2006 11:18:08 AM PDT by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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To: topher

Oil is not the problem - it's the government messing with the formulae for gasoline.

The unblended stuff, the "RBOB" in this story, will work just fine in your car, but the EPA tries to squeeze out just a tiny bit better exhaust gas by putting oxygenates in the fuel - adding more oxygen than is availabel in the air - but the primary compound MTBE has been demonized throughout California by those who ride bicycles to work and think they've found another way to kill the automobile.

[And this whole "oxygenated fuel" business comes perilously close to being junk science in the first place: what is barely detectible in the lab is nearly unverifiable in actual cars on actual roads.]

So the MTBE makers are being sued, the EPA refuses to protect them, and the makers have said, "fine, we'll just stop making the stuff."
That leaves us with ethanol, a compound that we can't make fast enough, and which the government taxes at the rate of $.54 per gallon (!) if it's imported.

Not to mention the fact that ethanol has about half the heating value of gasoline, so your fuel economy will suffer accordingly as it's blended into gasoline - but the pricve isn't going to go down, is it?
And most of us driving older cars are going to experience various fuel system problems as the ethanol attacks any plastics and rubber materials it can find, as well as removing any sludge or deposits in encounters.
Stock up on fuel filters!


6 posted on 04/26/2006 11:25:03 AM PDT by Redbob
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