Project Summary - Effects on Gasoline Producibility of a National Ban on MTBE Blending and a National DI Std.

To support its Producibility Work Group, the National Petroleum Council (NPC) commissioned MathPro Inc. to analyze the prospective effects of (1) nation-wide restrictions on the use of MTBE as a gasoline blendstock and (2) a national standard capping DI at 1200. Prospective effects considered included changes in product out-turns, changes in refinery operations, incremental operating costs, new capital investments, etc. of the proposed restriction on MTBE use in all gasoline consumed in the U.S.

The study employed formal refinery modeling using MathPro Inc.’s ARMS refinery LP modeling system. The analysis addressed refining operations in PADDs 1, 2, and 3 under different scenarios involving price and supply of ethanol and emissions targets (for the MTBE ban analysis) and safety margins on refinery average DI (for the DI analysis).

Results of the analysis appear in the discussion of gasoline producibility in the NPC report, U.S. Petroleum Refining: Assuring the Adequacy and Affordability of Cleaner Fuels (June 2000), commissioned by the U.S. Secretary of Energy.