(Dave Bedard photo)

Diesel prices remain high across Prairies

CNS Canada — While the price of crude oil continues to decline across North American markets, diesel remains stubbornly high in Western Canada. Prices are equal to gasoline, or in some cases, exceeding them by as much as 10 cents in some Saskatchewan and Manitoba locations. “Diesel production in the West has been crimped by



Diesel prices seen staying low until July

CNS Canada –– The price of diesel has fallen to the same level as gasoline across Western Canada, but a Chicago-based analyst doesn’t expect it to stay that way for too long. “Probably after the Fourth of July, late July and August the prices may start to edge up,” said Phil Flynn, energy market analyst

New EPA biofuel targets dent corn’s demand prospects

At the very least, lower usage targets for both ethanol and other biofuels are 
expected to reduce interest in expanding production in the sector

Many corn traders tried to shrug off the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s proposal to trim the U.S. renewable fuels usage targets for 2014 and 2015, noting that U.S. ethanol production is driven more by operating margins than government-mandated blending requirements and is likely to remain high as long as ethanol makers can make profits. But


More states join call for end to U.S. ethanol rule

Two U.S. states that depend on the livestock industry are adding their voices to a string of states asking Washington to ease pressure on corn prices by suspending rules that send a large share of the crop to produce ethanol. Georgia, the centre of U.S. poultry production, and New Mexico, with its large cattle industry,



George Morris Centre says Canada’s ethanol policy hurts livestock farmers

winnipeg / reuters / The George Morris Centre is calling on the federal government to curb or eliminate its support for ethanol production because it is pushing up feed grain prices. Ethanol has boosted feed grain prices by $15 to $20 per tonne in Eastern Canada and by $5 to $10 in the West, said

U.S. Ethanol Incentives Under Scrutiny

Reform of U.S. ethanol incentives could save up to $5.7 billion a year, a congressional watchdog said March 1 as ethanol critics called on Congress to let the tax breaks expire at the end of this year. In an examination of federal spending, the Government Accountability Office said the ethanol tax credit and a federal


U.S. Locked Into Ethanol Growth

The U.S. government has few options to slow down the ethanol boom that has played a big role in drawing down corn supplies to their lowest level in 15 years, a top U.S. Agriculture Department official said Feb. 10. “The fact is the industry has pretty much been built,” USDA chief economist Joe Glauber told

U.S. Ethanol Sector Contemplates Subsidy Cuts

Mark Marquis had planned to double the size of his Illinois ethanol plant in 2011, and was considering expanding a Wisconsin facility his family-run firm bought into last July. But those plans are now on hold, as Marquis and other ethanol producers brace for the possible end of $6 billion a year in U.S. subsidies