US MTBE levels down to lowest level since 1993

03 March 2008 22:23  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--US inventories of the gasoline additive methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) last year decreased to the lowest levels since 1993, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Monday.

Much of the decline was attributed by producers to the US phase-out of the blending component in favour of ethanol.

In 2007, monthly MTBE inventory levels averaged 1.53m bbl, down from 13.4m bbl in 1993, when the EIA started collecting data on oxygenates.

Groundwater contamination from faulty and corrosive underground storage tanks has been linked to MTBE, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Additionally, ethanol is now added to gasoline. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 reduced the federal requirement for oxygen content in reformulated gasoline. Since its passage, fuel ethanol has been favoured as an oxygenate blending component for gasoline.

Monthly ethanol stocks in 2007 averaged 9.78m bbl, compared with 2.41m bbl in 1993.

Despite its phase-out, MTBE continues to be produced and exported from the US, with much of the product shipped to Mexico and Venezuela, according to the US Trade Commission.

For more on MTBE visit ICIS chemical intelligence

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By: Steven McGinn
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