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RFA accuses oil companies of ‘strong arm tactics’

The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) accuses the major oil companies of using “strong arm tactics and covert practices” to prevent and discourage the sale of renewable fuels—especially at stations carrying their brand names.

RFA’s Geoff Cooper says, in many cases, the oil companies make it needlessly expensive or simply impossible for a retailer to offer consumers more ethanol-blend choices, like E15 or E85.

“They do this through highly restrictive franchise and branding agreements; they do this through highly prescriptive fuel supply contracts; and a host of other subversive tactics that essentially prevent or at least significantly discourage retailers from selling greater volumes of renewable fuels,” Cooper says.

RFA president and CEO Bob Dinneen says his group has filed complaints with the Federal Trade Commission, but to no avail. Dinneen says the best to way to ensure that consumers get access to the lower cost ethanol blends is for the EPA to enforce compliance with the Renewable Fuels Standard.

“The RFS was the mechanism that was designed to break the monopolistic hold over the gas pump that the major oil companies have,” Dinneen says. “If we back off from the RFS, we’re rewarding those companies.

“This is not the time to be rewarding those companies that are exercising their market power to deny Americans choice at the pump.”

RFA’s findings are part of new report entitled “Protecting the Monopoly: How Big Oil Covertly Blocks the Sale of Renewable Fuels”. The report includes a Consumer Choice Report Card, which grades some of the largest retail gasoline chains on how well they are doing in providing consumers with alternatives to regular gasoline.

AUDIO: Excerpt from RFA conference call with ag media (15:46 MP3)

Link to RFA news release

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