Delta makes $350m gamble as it lobbies Biden on fuel credits

Delta has stopped buying the credits its oil refining arm needs to comply with US biofuel laws, leaving it with a $346m liability at the end of Q1, as it tries to persuade the White House to ease its obligations, according to previously unreported financial filings and sources familiar with the matter. The decision to suspend buying is a risky gamble by the airline as these credits hit record highs and Delta works to convince the White House to ease its obligations to comply with the US Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), the sources said. Merchant refiners like Delta-owned Monroe Energy have long opposed the RFS, which requires refiners to blend billions of gallons of biofuels into their fuel each year or purchase credits from those who do, often at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars. Delta’s refinery, along with a handful of others, is seeking a temporary waiver of biofuel laws from the US EPA, arguing the costs are overly burdensome and threaten their plants.<br/>