"You have a whole flood of uncertainty," QuikTrip Corp. spokesperson Michael Thornbrugh told the newspaper. "QuikTrip is not going to be involved in the [image-nocss] mass confusion."
As reported yesterday in CSP Daily News (click here), the state of Oregon is holding off on allowing the sale of E15.
The E15 blend is a major step up from the E10 currently allowed at fueling stations across the country. The lower blend already is ruled as safe for most gasoline-burning automobiles on the road, despite scattered criticism that it harms engines, said the report.
So what happens when government introduces a new blend proved safe only for a relatively small percentage of the cars on the road? What if the driver of a 2000 Chevy picks the wrong pump? And how do retailers and refiners respond when new pumps might need to be installed and blending formulas reconfigured?
Apparently, not even the feds have answers to those questions just yet, the report said.
"What the EPA has done is make a decision without thinking about the long-term consequences to everybodythe consumer, the retailer, the refiner and automobile manufacturer," Thornbrugh added.
Tulsa, Okla.-based QuikTrip, among the nation's largest convenience store chains, is one of many companies not jumping on the E15 bandwagon, the paper said. Magellan Midstream Partners LP, another Tulsa company, also is taking the wait-and-see approach, it said.
And yet Magellan is no typical skeptic when it comes to ethanol. The transporter of refined petroleum and crude oil has ethanol blending capabilities at 70 of its 84 distribution terminals nationwide, including in Tulsa. The introduction of E15, however, presents challenges beyond the question of possible damage to older cars. Bruce Heine, a spokesperson for Magellan, told the Tulsa World that future state and local rules may have to specify a different formulation for the base gasoline, resulting in a separate grade of fuel at the pump.
Transport is another big if when it comes to ethanol, said the report. Conventional pipelines cannot be used because of its corrosiveness, so ethanol currently is trucked into terminals.
Magellan and ethanol producer Poet LLC are hoping for federal approval and loan guarantees to fund a dedicated interstate ethanol pipeline in the near future, according to the report.
Federal law mandates the production of 12 billion gallons of ethanol this year and up to 30 billion gallons annually by 2020, while subsidies keep ethanol relatively cheap per gallon and make blended fuels more competitive at gas stations.
Chuck Mai, a spokesperson for AAA-Oklahoma, recalled the "near panic" after the organization's members realized they were pumping E10 into their tanks more than two years ago. The state eventually implemented rules requiring that stations use decals to notify customers if they were selling blended fuels.
Mai cited a potential Oklahoma situation based on his recent trip to South Dakota, where stations have a variety of pumps offering everything from E0 "real gas" to E10 and E85.
Customers need options because ethanol is not good for older cars and small engines such as mowers, he added.
But for now, "I think we've weathered the storm," Mai told the paper, noting that many stations in the Tulsa area now sell E10 while plenty of others offer pure gasoline. "The marketplace has sorted itself out."
Magellan will have to increase storage tank capacity and install new automation for handling ethanol to accommodate the higher demand when E15 eventually hits the market, Heine said. "We'll be reaching out to our customers in the future to determine their interest in E15," he said.
The interest may be slim, none or just uncertain at this early juncture, said the report.
"I don't know of any terminals or refineries which will do E15 at this point," Thornbrugh added.
A recent CSP Daily News Poll asked, "Do you think the E15 (15% ethanol) gasoline blend will gain acceptance with U.S. motorists?" Of the approximately 150 responses, 47% said "only with a niche group"; more than 36% said "no"; and about 17% said "yes."
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