Biofuels proponents have been meeting with White House officials this week in attempts to ensure Renewable Fuel Standard blending requirements will not be reduced this year, as first indicated by EPA. The various groups also want new classifications of biofuels to be included as accepted fuels under the legislation. “More than 35 applications for new biofuel sources are pending at the EPA, with an average wait time of two years. The delays keep fuels off the market because would-be buyers cannot get credit under the biofuel mandate to purchase them.” [Reuters]

The latest round of economic sanctions on Russia target longer-term oil industry prospects and leave the natural gas industry alone for now. “To some extent, Rosneft has already been girding itself for sanctions. Just a couple of days before the U.S. sanctions announced in mid-July, Rosneft completed a deal to buy the Russian operations of Weatherford, a major international oil services firm.” [Washington Post]

West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for September delivery fell below $100 per barrel yesterday – a 4-month low – due to extended refinery downtime following a fire. “CVR’s plant in Coffeyville [Kansas] may be shut for four weeks after a July 29 fire, Chief Executive Officer Jack Lipinski said today on an earnings call. … ‘Coffeyville is connected directly to Cushing, and that’s why it’s a big deal,’ said Carl Larry, president of Oil Outlooks & Opinions LLC in Houston. ‘We are probably going to see a build at Cushing.’” [Bloomberg]