Study Urges Deferring MTBE Phaseout

California should defer its scheduled phaseout of the clean-gasoline additive MTBE until 2005 if it wants to avoid fuel shortages and price spikes, according to a study commissioned by the California Energy Commission.

If the phaseout continues as scheduled for Dec. 31, “it will result in a supply shortfall of 5% to 10% for the California gasoline pool as a whole,” said the study by consulting group Stillwater Associates.

That would boost prices as high as $3 a gallon, the study said.

Although MTBE has succeeded in helping fuel burn more cleanly, it has been dogged by findings that it is contaminating ground water and by studies suggesting it is a carcinogen.