California governor orders CARB to immediately allow winter-grade gasoline

Los Angeles (Platts)--7Oct2012/720 pm EDT/2320 GMT

California Gov Jerry Brown Sunday ordered the state's Air Resources Board to "immediately" undertake "whatever steps are necessary" to allow the state to transition immediately to winter-grade gasoline.

However, the problems in the state that have caused spot and retail prices to spike are occuring against a backdrop of refinery and pipeline problems, but refineries have largely shifted already from making summer-grade gasoline to winter-grade gasoline, raising a question about whether Brown's mandate will have any impact.

CARB released a letter Sunday sent from Brown to Mary Nichols, the chairwoman of the Air Resources Board.

"In light of the tight gasoline supplies and resulting price spikes, we should not wait until the end of the month to start production of our winter-blend gasoline," Brown said in the letter. "Allowing refiners to make an early transition to winter-blend gasoline could quickly increase fuel suppply and provide a much needed safety vale with negligible air quality impacts."

According to Brown's letter, the transition date for summer-grade to winter-grade gasoline--which is easier to make, as it has less restrictive RVP requirements, among other things--is October 31. But observers have noted that the transition at the refinery level occurs long before that date.

--John Kingston, john_kingston@platts.com

--Hil Anderson, newsdesk@platts.com

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