Drought to hit ethanol exports, not gas prices: EIA

Reuters
WASHINGTON
Wed Aug 8, 2012 5:00pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Exports of corn-based ethanol may suffer from the country's worst drought in more than 50 years, but prices for gasoline blended with the domestic fuel should not rise significantly, the government said on Wednesday.

The drought has shriveled crops and boosted prices for corn to record levels late last month. The higher corn prices have also boosted prices for ethanol and helped push some distilleries to close until market conditions improve.

The Energy Department's statistics wing, the Energy Information Administration, forecasted this week that U.S. ethanol output should fall by 70,000 barrels per day to 830,000 bpd for the second half of the year.

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