With Congress and the White House pushing to increases the use of ethanol, the oil industry is scaling back its plans to expand refineries – which could keep gasoline prices high, possibly for years to come.
President Bush has called for a 20 percent decline in gasoline use by 2017 and the Senate is debating legislation for huge increases in the use of ethanol as a motor fuel. So, oil companies see a growing uncertainty about future gasoline demand and less need to increase refinery capacity to make more gasoline. (AP)