Oil refiners suffering from higher ethanol and RIN prices

In Texas, oil refiners are getting squeezed by requirements to blend ethanol at ever higher prices while margins shrink due to low oil prices. HollyFrontiner Corp., for example, had to pay $36 million in ethanol premiums during Q1 due to ethanol averaging 30 cents per gallon higher than gasoline in Chicago, while it paid $46 million for RINs. Ethanol premiums vary greatly across the country from 2 cents in Chicago to 24 cents in Los Angeles.