Some Historical Suppliers Cannot Produce Low Sulfur Gasoline
Source: EIA, Form EIA-814
SThis chart shows imports stacked roughly by their ability to produce low sulfur gasoline.  Those with the greatest ability are on the bottom.
SOne could assume that refineries that depend on the United States for much of their output would invest to comply with U.S. regulatory changes.  Facilities dependent on U.S markets include Eastern Canadian refineries, the Hovensa refinery in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and to a lesser extent refineries in Venezuela.  In 2003, these three regions supplied 42% of total gasoline imports.
SIn addition, Western Europe has become an important supplier to the United States, and with European Union (EU) specifications being close to U.S. specifications, we might expect a large share of those volumes to continue to be available.
SHowever, much of the historical supply from Latin America outside of Venezuela may not be able to meet our specifications in the near future. Venezuela’s ability to supply future specifications on time is uncertain as a result of the changes in PDVSA that occurred since the strike in December 2002.
SWe may also lose some Eastern European volumes – particularly when we move to 30 ppm requirements next year.  Furthermore, some of our Asian sources of imports (e.g., India and China) may not be able to supply low-sulfur product for some time. However, Asia is a small source of imports, supplying only 4% of total imports in 2003.
SThis implies that in the short run, we may need higher prices to attract needed volumes both because fewer sources can produce U.S. product and because the product we need is higher valued.
SOne of our biggest import source areas, Europe, may need to supply more product in the future if other areas drop out.  But will Europe have enough extra supply for export to make up for other lost volumes?