US gasoline stocks adequate going into summer: Bodman

Washington (Platts)--13Apr2007

US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said Friday that US gasoline supplies
will meet demand this summer, but he warned of price run-ups due to refinery
constraints.

Speaking to reporters following a speech in Washington to the American
Association of Blacks in Energy, Bodman said "I'm relatively confident that we
are going to continue to have supply" of gasoline, but he said that with
refineries down due to annual maintenance and for a switchover to summer
gasoline blends, gasoline on the market could be limited and prices could rise
to levels seen last summer.

Bodman also put in a pitch for an administration propsal to clear the way
for new refinery capacity. That proposal died in Congress last year, and has
gone nowhere under Democratic control. Under the proposal, sponsors of new
refineries could get an easier path to permitting and help in siting the new
facilities.

--Daniel Whitten, daniel_whitten@platts.com