Ethanol share in US fuel market rises to record 10.2%

The share of ethanol in the US petrol market rose to 10.2% last week, according to a report published by the US Energy Information Association (EIA) on Wednesday.

The increase in market share breaches the so called blend wall at 10%, over which the biofuels industry and petroleum producers have wrestled for several years.

The oil and petroleum industry claims that ethanol blends higher than 10% could end up damaging engines and voiding warranties.

“This tells us that people are willing to push past 10%,” Jason Ward, an analyst at Northstar Commodity Investments in Minneapolis, told Bloomberg Markets.

The US Environmental Protection Agency approves the sale of 15% ethanol blends in 2011 for cars built after 2001, but uptake has been slow and the blend wall continues to cause tension in both government and industry.