POET chief:$50 oil will not ruin US ethanol makers

Reuters.com
Wed Dec 3, 2008 4:39pm EST

WASHINGTON, Dec 3 (Reuters) - U.S. ethanol makers can make money producing the alternative motor fuel even with crude oil prices as low as $50 a barrel, the head of the largest U.S. ethanol producer said on Wednesday.

Jeff Broin, chief executive of privately held POET, told a conference that his company was looking at potential purchases of ethanol plants, but declined afterward to say if bankrupt VeraSun Energy Corp was among them.

Broin urged a higher blend rate for ethanol into gasoline, now set at 10 percent, during a speech to a conference sponsored by Farm Journal magazine.

The blend rate should be boosted to 15 percent or 20 percent ethanol to satisfy federal requirements for use of ethanol in the next year or two, Broin said.

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