The US Environmental Protection Agency Thursday expanded emergency gasoline waivers to include 38 states and the District of Columbia to prevent storm-related supply disruptions across the country as concerns mounted about Gulf Coast refining capacity.
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The agency waived through September 15 requirements for reformulated gasoline and low-volatility gasoline to 26 additional states. Previous waivers targeted gasoline markets in the South, Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions.
The latest waiver added Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Arkansas and New Mexico.
EPA said the sale of E15, gasoline with up to 15% ethanol, must continue to comply with federal rules.
EPA and the Department of Energy determined the waivers were in the public interest.
"EPA and DOE are continuing to actively monitor the fuel-supply situation as a result of Hurricane Harvey, and will act expeditiously if extreme and unusual supply circumstances exist in other areas," the agencies said in a statement.
The nearly nationwide waiver comes a day after Colonial Pipeline, the largest US refined product pipeline, announced it would temporarily suspend service on its Line 1 carrying gasoline and Line 2 carrying diesel and jet fuel because of supply constraints.
The pipeline news and broader concerns about the loss of Texas refining capacity from Harvey drove up gasoline futures Thursday.
At 1708 GMT, NYMEX September RBOB was up 21.29 cents at $2.0976/gal, after posting an intraday high of $2.1678/gal, the highest point for the prompt contract since June 2015. NYMEX October RBOB was up 12.76 cents at $1.7651/gal.
