Last week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the final Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) numbers for 2023-2025. These figures show an overall decrease in the amount of biofuel that U.S. oil refiners are required to blend compared to the numbers proposed in late 2022.

In 2023, the EPA set the total biofuel blending requirement at 20.94 billion gallons, up from the 20.82 billion gallons proposed in December 2022. However, the requirement for 2024 was lowered to 21.54 billion gallons from the previously proposed 21.87 billion gallons. The level for 2025 was set at 22.33 billion gallons, down from the proposed 22.68 billion gallons.

The aggregate reduction in biofuel blending over...