March 28 (Bloomberg) — President Donald Trump’s administration has asked oil and biofuel producers to reach an agreement on the next phase of the nation’s biofuel policy in a bid to avoid the kind of political conflict that characterized his first term in office.
Oil giants and biofuel producers in the agricultural belt are traditional rivals for billions of dollars of U.S. gasoline market share.
They have repeatedly battled over the details of the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard, which calls for billions of gallons of corn ethanol and other biofuels to be blended into the country’s fuel supply.
Among the most important issues discussed, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is preparing a new blending rule under the Renewable Fuel Standard that will govern emissions for the next two to three years, as well as the market for the program’s multibillion-dollar compliance credits.