HOUSTON, March 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Lyondell Chemical Company today said that the nation is likely to see sharp increases in gasoline prices, gasoline supply disruptions and deterioration in air quality as a result of rulemaking to remove the reformulated gasoline oxygen content requirement issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Lyondell submitted comments and recommendations to EPA as part of the public participation process to the rulemaking removing the oxygen content requirement as included in the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Lyondell said that the rules proposed by EPA fail to address Executive Order 13211, which requires that rules or regulations not significantly affect energy supply, distribution or use. The accelerated removal of MTBE, brought on by the elimination of the oxygen content requirement, will negatively impact gasoline price and supply, distribution patterns and air quality, Lyondell said.
The negative impacts could be averted if EPA would issue a transition rule that encourages refiners to continue to blend the oxygenate MTBE through the spring and summer, as refiners have for the past 13 years. Additionally, Lyondell urged EPA to engage in a full notice-and-comment review of the impacts on gasoline price and air quality of removing the oxygen content requirement.
"We recognize that Congress intended to remove the oxygen requirement in Energy Policy Act of 2005 and we are not attempting to reverse that," said Norman Phillips, Senior Vice President, Fuels and Raw Materials for Lyondell. "We are asking EPA to facilitate the process of removing the oxygen standard in accordance with existing regulations, in a manner that minimizes the negative impacts on air quality and gasoline supply for consumers."
A complete text of Lyondell's comments can be obtained on Lyondell's web site at http://www.lyondell.com/ .
ABOUT LYONDELL
Lyondell Chemical Company, headquartered in Houston, Texas, is North America's third-largest independent, publicly traded chemical company. Lyondell is a major global manufacturer of basic chemicals and derivatives including ethylene, propylene, titanium dioxide, styrene, polyethylene, propylene oxide and acetyls. It also is a significant producer of gasoline blending components. The company has a 58.75 percent interest in Lyondell- Citgo Refining LP, a refiner of heavy, high-sulfur crude oil. As a result of Lyondell's November 30, 2004 acquisition of Millennium Chemicals Inc., Millennium and Equistar Chemicals, LP are wholly owned subsidiaries of Lyondell. Lyondell is a global company operating on five continents and employs approximately 10,000 people worldwide.
