EPA Weighs Ethanol Rule Change That Could Help Icahn
- Change would effectively shave 8 percent off annual mandate
- U.S. exported 1.2 billion gallons of ethanol last year
The Trump administration is considering a policy change that could allow an extra billion gallons or more of biofuel each year to qualify toward a U.S. mandate, lowering costs for refiners at the expense of ethanol producers, according to people briefed on the discussions.
That change by the Environmental Protection Agency would increase the number of available compliance credits available, likely making them cheaper for refiners, such as Valero Energy Corp. and Carl Icahn’s CVR Energy Inc. The EPA could propose the rule change in the next few months, according to the people who asked not to be identified discussing internal deliberations.