Valero sees giant drop in 2018 RIN spend

In Texas, Reuters reports that Valero expects to pay between 40% and 50% of what it did last year for its RIN obligations, somewhere between $450 million and $550 million compared to its 2017 RIN spend of $975 million. RIN prices have collapsed this year in response to expectations that the Renewable Fuels Standard would be reformed and that the Environmental Protection Agency would continue to issue hardship waivers for smaller refiners, reducing the volume of RINs required to comply with 2018 RFS targets.