The Energy Information Administration reports that the US average price for regular gasoline fell three cents to $2.73 per gallon, a price that is 11 cents higher than last year. Prices slipped by half a cent to $3.05 per gallon on the West Coast; with California average falling one cent to $3.12 per gallon. The West Coast business region is comprised of Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Washington.
     As for diesel fuel, the national average fell more than three cents to $2.92 per gallon. This was 33 cents higher than at the same time the year before. The diesel price average on the West Coast declined two cents to $3.08 per gallon. The average diesel price in California lowered a penny and a half to $3.13 per gallon.
     The Energy Information Administration's Short-Term Energy Outlook remains about the same as last month's forecasts of domestic crude oil at $79.00 for the second half of 2010 and $83.00 per barrel for 2011. Given that the price of crude oil has come down since April of this year, the forecast for fuel price average through September is $2.80 per gallon; 12 cents lower than the forecast in April.
     The Oil Price Information Service said Tuesday that, according to an agency employee, the Environmental Protection Agency is likely to approve the use of 15% ethanol blends in some motor vehicles this fall, probably in a two-step process setting the stage for introduction of E15 next year. This appears to be an effort to meet the 2005 federal Renewable Fuel Standard, the revised version of which requires the use of 15.2 billion gallons of renewable fuels in the United States by 2012. With unleaded gasoline currently mixed with a nation-wide average of 9.2 percent ethanol, our national annual consumption of ethanol is at about 12.8 billion gallons per year. At projected 2010 gasoline consumption levels, a full ten percent ethanol blend could bring the US consumption to 13.5 billion gallons per year. The challenge moving forward is how to effect the required consumption of 36 billion gallons of renewable fuel by 2022.

Chris Nobles
Commercial Fueling
Nella Oil Company