Biofuels Group Calls for Year-Round E15 to Ease Wartime Oil Price Spike

March 03, 2026

Print This Article Share it With Friends

(Inside EPA) The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) is urging Congress to quickly enact an authorization for year-round use of 15 percent ethanol fuel (E15) to ease consumer fuel prices, amid a surge in oil prices resulting from the outbreak of war with Iran and the spread of conflict across the Middle East. “Once again, the events in the Middle East and the spike in oil prices demonstrates this country’s overreliance on foreign sources for our energy,” said RFA President and CEO Geoff Cooper .... READ MORE

Related articles

RFA: Middle East Uncertainty Shows Need for Year-Round E15 (Renewable Fuels Association)
Ethanol (Trading Economics)
Biofuel supporters say nationwide E15 adoption could temper Middle East oil uncertainty (NAFB News Service/KFGO)
Agri-Pulse DriveTime Podcast March 2, 2026: Higher energy costs and the threat of a major shipping lane is leading to fears that an extended conflict could spark inflation. Renewable fuel advocates say the action is just another reason for Congress to approve legislation to sell E15 gasoline year-round. (Agri-Pulse; includes AUDIO)
Republicans dismiss Iran conflict energy price concerns: Rising oil and natural gas prices because of the unrest are now part of the debate over affordability ahead of the midterms. (E&E Daily)
Iran conflict inflames California’s gasoline-price blame game (Politico Pro Energywire)
Sugar prices rise on fears that the Iran war will increase ethanol demand and lower sugar production (Reuters/World Energy News)
Sugar prices rally on fears Iran war will raise ethanol demand, lower sugar output (Zawya)
Conflict in Iran Ripples Through Global Fertilizer Markets, Raises Prices Even Higher (AgWeb)
Democrats to test Republicans by pushing year-round E15 farm bill amendment (Agri-Pulse)
Ethanol group says nationwide E15 would minimize oil price spikes (Brownfield Ag News; includes AUDIO)
Iran conflict strengthens ethanol industry case for year-round E15 legislation (Iowa Agribusiness Radion Network; includes AUDIO)
Soaring prices fuel fresh demands for ethanol deal -- Lawmakers from both parties want legislation that would make year-round sales of E15 a permanent reality. (Politico Pro E&E Daily)
Grassley urges action on E15 and renewable fuel volumes (Brownfield Ag News)
Midterm elections, Iran conflict could create opportunities and challenges for year-round E-15 (Brownfield Ag News)
Congress may punt on refiner biofuel waivers: Update (Argus Media)

Excerpt from Renewable Fuels Association: As the events in the Middle East have led to a spike in oil prices and the expectation of higher gasoline prices for American drivers, the Renewable Fuels Association renews its urgent call for Congress to pass legislation to allow the nationwide year-round sale of the lower-cost, American-made E15, a blend with 15 percent ethanol.

"Once again, the events in the Middle East and the spike in oil prices demonstrate this country’s overreliance on foreign sources for our energy,” said RFA President and CEO Geoff Cooper. "We need to take every action we can to insulate our nation from these geopolitically induced price spikes at the pump, and an easy solution is to increase our use of domestically produced ethanol. Congress must pass legislation to allow year-round E15, as President Trump has called them to do. This action has bipartisan and bicameral support, and American consumers demand it."

Recent polling by Morning Consult indicates:

78% are very or somewhat concerned about gas price fluctuations.
78% believe renewable fuels like ethanol are important to energy independence.
73% believe it is very or somewhat important for their fuel to be made in America.

In 2025, the U.S. imported 314 million barrels of oil from OPEC countries. If E15 were adopted nationally, Cooper said, the additional ethanol would displace half of this volume.

A 2019 gas price study by independent economist and energy expert Dr. Philip K. Verleger, Jr. looked at oil market disruptions over nearly 50 years and showed how the availability of ethanol avoids a significant impact to U.S. gasoline prices from a supply disruption and saves consumers a significant amount of money at the pump. Verleger cataloged various crises and their impacts on the oil supply, from the 1973 Arab Oil Embargo to ongoing political and economic challenges in Venezuela. When it comes to crises such as these, Verleger asserts that "even a modest amount of renewable fuels can significantly moderate the price impact of market disruptions." READ MORE

Excerpt from Politico Pro Energywire: The Middle Eastern conflict has stemmed the flow of oil shipments out of the Persian Gulf, spiking global oil commodity prices. Oil analysts are warning that the market volatility will quickly translate into an uptick of gasoline prices at the pump.

Add to that California's ongoing refinery woes, and the Golden State could see $5 per gallon in the coming weeks, according to Ryan Cummings, chief of staff of the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.

“[Retail] gas prices are already slated to continue to increase, particularly in Northern California,” Cummings said in an interview. “So then on top of that, you get the double whammy of whatever’s happening in Iran.”

In all, the Iran conflict represents the first major test to the new gasoline supply model that the Newsom administration has increasingly embraced as refineries close: importing a larger share of the state’s gasoline as oil refiners exit in the face of the Golden State goal of phasing out petroleum-based fuels by 2045. READ MORE

Excerpt from Reuters/World Energy News: The world sugar price rose 'on Monday, on the fear that the U.S./Israel war against Iran, which is disrupting energy supplies worldwide, would cause Brazilian sugarcane mills to produce less sugar and more ethanol. Ethanol, a biofuel made from cane, is produced by mills. The mills of Brazil, the world's largest sugar producer, will use less cane for fuel production, which means they have less raw material available to make sugar. Sugar is a staple food and calorie source in developing countries. At 1215 GMT, 'raw sugar price futures' on the ICE were up 1%, at 14.23 cents per lb. They had gained nearly 3% earlier. White sugar futures, meanwhile, rose 2.1%, to $416.30 a metric tonne, after earlier gaining more than 3%.

The world oil and natural gas prices are on the rise as the Iran conflict causes the closure of oil and gas installations across the Middle East, and the disruption of shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

Sugar market consultant says that Petrobas, Brazil's state oil company, is likely to increase gasoline prices in the country at some point.

He said there were also concerns that the conflict could impact the ability of sugar refineries to produce "white or processed" sugar in the Gulf, either by limiting the ability to import raw or by increasing the cost of imports.

The 'war' could drag on, however, and threaten the 'global economy. It would also boost inflation which, in turn, could cap sugar prices by reducing demand for the sweetener.

Other soft commodities include arabica coffee, which fell 0.3% per lb to $2.7995, while robusta coffee rose by 2.5% to $3.713/t. READ MORE

Excerpt from Brownfield Ag News: Troy Bredenkamp tells Brownfield the conflict in the Middle East is one more reason Congress needs to get year-round E15 legislation done. “We saw over the last forty-eight hours at least, an increase in crude oil prices of at least eight percent. You know, that’s going to start hitting prices at the pump here in the next day or two or three. It never takes very long.”

Bredenkamp says now more than ever, it’s time for Congress to add certainty and stability to insulate the market from conflicts like this. “E15 would replace about half of the crude oil that we get from OPEC states right now, so that would be the impact overall long-term of getting E15 done.”

If passed, Bredenkamp believes retailers would move quickly to upgrade their infrastructure to handle E15. “And that, for us, would mean another six to seven billion gallons of ethanol into the marketplace. That’s another two to two-point-five billion bushels of corn being ground. That would certainly soak up a lot of the carryover that we’re seeing this year.”

He says, “The Energy Marketers Association has done their own work, and I think they sent out a report in the last week or two that they even think that year-round E15 would lead to adoption of E15 where it would replace E10 in about a five-year time span, so that’s a pretty quick adoption rate.” READ MORE; includes AUDIO

Excerpt from Politico Pro E&E Daily: At a Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee hearing on farm production, lawmakers from both parties took turns venting frustration that Congress hasn’t been able to lift summer restrictions on the sale of E15 fuel despite support from President Donald Trump and even some petroleum companies.

“We were there in February, until some refiners wanted to get their hands in the cookie jar,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), referencing the collapsed effort to include year-round E15 in an annual spending bill in the House.

Lawmakers who’ve already been motivated to push the issue said the rapidly rising gas prices across the country provide all the more reason to act quickly on E15 — if they can find a legislative vehicle in the Senate and overcome complications in the House.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, the panel’s top Democrat, said the latest economic analyses suggest E15 — which is 15 percent ethanol, 85 percent gasoline — saves consumers around 25 cents per gallon. READ MORE

Excerpt from Brownfield Ag News: Brian Glenn, director of government affairs with the American Farm Bureau Federation, says Congress is currently eyeing a military funding bill as a potential vehicle for the legislation.

“Thinking about E-15 and the current conflict in Iran, it would be a win for consumers to get that across the finish line,” he says.

But, he says the upcoming midterm elections could be a challenge.

“Year-round E15 is at the top of the list right now for a market driver that would bring a lot of support to farm country,” he says. “We are urging Congress to act quickly and attach it to whatever package works.” READ MORE

Excerpt from Argus Media:

US lawmakers who have struggled to agree on fuel-market reforms could defer a decision on whether to limit oil refiners' ability to skirt a biofuel mandate program, according to the head of a major ethanol trade group that backs such restrictions.

The US House of Representatives tasked a "rural domestic energy council" of more than 20 Republican lawmakers with drafting legislation that would allow year-round sales of gasoline with up to 15pc ethanol (E15). But the so-called E15 council has missed its deadlines for reaching agreement, in part because some refiners oppose limiting hardship waivers from annual biofuel quotas that currently are available to small refineries.

There is "increased conversation" in the House and Senate around considering exemption changes later, Renewable Fuels Association chief executive Geoff Cooper told Argus in an interview. "Based on some things we're hearing, there is some talk of a new strategy to move immediately on pieces where there is consensus."

That would be a major shift, as debate among lobbyists and lawmakers for months has revolved around not just exempting E15 gasoline from summertime smog rules, but also around changing the small-refinery exemption program that has frustrated farm advocates and oil majors alike.

The US requires oil companies to annually blend biofuels or buy Renewable Identification Number (RIN) credits from those that do, while letting refineries that process no more than 75,000 b/d of crude request hardship waivers that can save them tens of millions of dollars. New federal mandates are expected this month.

An earlier bill negotiated in part by the Renewable Fuels Association would have limited exemptions to companies with limited collective refining capacity, cutting off larger firms that currently can win waivers for smaller units they own. After midsize refiners like Delek and Par Pacific protested, the House task force has floated letting small refinery owners of various sizes seek waivers but capping the total amount of gasoline and diesel that can be exempted each year.

The Renewable Fuels Association would prefer that Congress pass changes to E15 availability and biofuel mandate exemptions together, "but we really can't allow that to further hold up the E15 legislation", Cooper said.

"One of the frustrations I have is dealing with these refineries and the RINs and things like that that are holding up getting E15 by legislation", US senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said Monday at a Senate agriculture committee hearing.

Cooper suggested that the best "starting point" for negotiations on a "skinnier" bill is an earlier proposal that would allow year-round E15 sales and would compensate some unnamed small refinery owners for past compliance by providing them with special program credits that do not expire. A framework shared with Argus last month estimated this provision could mean regulators give those companies 363mn special RINs.

That slimmer bill nearly passed Congress in 2024 but ran into headwinds last year when the American Petroleum Institute pitched the White House and biofuel advocates on a larger package that also would include limits on small refinery exemptions. The group was frustrated by generous waivers President Donald Trump's administration has given some smaller competitors and wanted to prevent regulators from making companies without exemptions blend more biofuels in future years as an offset.

The offices of US representatives Randy Feenstra (R-Iowa) and Stephanie Bice (R-Oklahoma), the co-chairs of the E15 council, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The American Petroleum Institute also did not respond when asked whether any E15 bill would need exemption changes to win its support.

More details on the council's plans could come "next week", when the House returns from recess, Cooper predicted.

Iran adds fuel to E15 talks

The debate around E15 has shifted drastically since the US war in Iran has sent crude futures surging, leaving higher-ethanol blends as one way to temper rising pump prices. The vast majority of gasoline sold in the US contains 10pc ethanol.

A group of midwestern states and the Renewable Fuels Association have asked the Trump administration to issue emergency waivers allowing E15 sales across the US this summer.

The Trump administration issued emergency waivers last year allowing summertime E15 sales and halting a transition in the midcontinent to a costlier fuel blend, but only days before summer driving season. Cooper urged regulators to signal plans sooner this year — at least by the end of March — to avoid supply-chain disruptions.

Critics of the biofuel mandates likewise see opportunity. The Fueling America Jobs Coalition, which includes independent refiners and unions, has lobbied the administration to set less aggressive biofuel quotas as a strategy to cut RIN costs that spill into retail fuel prices. READ MORE