Big Oil and Big Corn Continue to Battle

OilPrice:

Last week, representatives of the American Coalition for Ethanol hit the pavement in Washington, DC, for the annual Biofuels Beltway in March, hoping to pressure the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ahead of a June decision on the 2014 Renewable Fuel Standard for ethanol.
As market events spiral out of control for ethanol producers and bottlenecks slow shipments and create shortages, the Coalition wants to know how much ethanol oil refiners are going to be forced to buy this year.
In June, the EPA will have to set a floor for the amount of ethanol oil refiners will be required to blend into the mix for this year. In November last year, the EPA proposed reducing the 2014 corn ethanol requirement by 1.4 billion gallons to 15.2 billion gallons--a proposal that has had ethanol suppliersup in arms.
And the oil industry is fighting back with its own resources. This week, securities filings showed that ethanol blending credits cost refiners at least $1.35 billion last year—or three times the cost of 2012, according to a 31 March Reutersreport based on disclosures from only nine refiners. The costs are related to the necessity of purchasing Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs), which are paper credits refiners have to use in order to meet quotes for ethanol blending.
Reuters notes that Valero Energy Corp, the largest US refiner, spent around $517 million RINs in 2013, while it estimates that it will spend another $250 million to $350 million on RINs in 2014.

 With the abundant crude in the North American market right now, and oil producers pushing for crude exports, I would wager on ethanol taking a hit. All of the arguments made in defense of the mandate (which weren't very strong to begin with) are being undermined by shale oil, and I can't see the farm lobby being able to overcome oil money.