Australia’s Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal seeking comments on proposed E10

In Australia, the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) is seeking comments on its draft report on monitoring the wholesale and retail markets for ethanol used in fuel blends like E10. Ethanol-blended petrol has continued to become more widely available in NSW, with the number of nozzles dispensing E10, which contains 10% ethanol, higher than for regular unleaded petrol.

Releasing its draft report on wholesale and retail ethanol fuel markets for 2017-18, IPART found that E10 retail prices across New South Wales were on average 2.2 cents per litre lower than regular petrol prices between August 2017 and June 2018.

Sales of ethanol as a proportion of total NSW petrol sales were around 2.7%. This is less than the 6% that would need to be sold if all retailers were meeting the ethanol mandate, 1 on average across NSW. IPART is required to monitor the retail market for E10 under the Biofuels Act 2007.  IPART also determines a wholesale price for ethanol based on an estimated import price for ethanol.