API Withdraws Support on E15 Citing Losses for Refiners

SECAUCUS, NJ (DTN) — The American Petroleum Institute (API) withdrew its support for year-round E15 gasoline sales on Tuesday (10/21), arguing that the 15% ethanol blend should not increase financial losses for refiners.

In a letter to Congress, API President and CEO Mike Sommers stated that while the group still backs consumer choice, market dynamics have “changed dramatically” since the Nationwide Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act of 2025 was proposed.

The legislation was introduced in July 2023, after eight Midwest states petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency in April 2022 to opt out of the national summertime waiver for the E10. The states wanted to be supplied with a blend that could not be easily mixed, substituted or transported interchangeably with the standard gasoline used in the rest of the region.

But after refiners had invested heavily in new infrastructure for the blend, the states asked to be exempt from their original requests, resulting in losses for API members, according to Sommers.

The API’s shift comes as California is set to introduce E15 gasoline statewide, following Governor Gavin Newsom’s approval of AB 30 legislation earlier this year.

The West Coast fuel market has experienced persistent supply volatility in 2025 due to refinery disruptions.  So far this year, Chevron’s 276,000 El Segundo refinery has reported multiple emergency flare events, including a massive explosion in early October.