Missouri retailers selling gasoline without ethanol
HOUSTON (Reuters) - Retailers across Missouri have been selling gasoline without ethanol blended into the motor fuel for several weeks, according to a state official.
The absence of the grain-based alcohol, used to reduce pollution, has pushed Missouri's gasoline prices to the lowest in the United States, said Ronald Hayes, director of weights and measures for the Missouri Department of Agriculture, which regulates gasoline sales.
"If the price for ethanol is more expensive than the price for gasoline, retailers can sell straight gasoline rather than with ethanol," Hayes said explaining state law.
Federal law mandates refiners nationally blend 9 billion gallons of ethanol with gasoline in 2008, but what gasoline is sold in a given market is regulated by environmental standards. For example, in Missouri, St. Louis must use ethanol-blend gasoline year-round to reduce pollution.
Retail gasoline prices on Wednesday in Kansas City, Missouri, were as low as $1.33 per gallon, according to kcgasprices.com.
Nationally, the average price for gasoline fell below $2.00 per gallon last week for the first time since March 2005, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported on Monday. The national average price was $1.89 a gallon.
On Wednesday, ethanol was seen in Chicago at prices as high as $1.70 per gallon while Hayes said wholesale prices for gasoline have been near $1.00 per gallon in Missouri markets.
(Reporting by Erwin Seba)
