The former CEO of Shell Oil says the U.S. needs to become energy independent and the only way to do that is for the biofuels and petroleum industries to work together.  John Hofmeister is now the head of the Citizens for Affordable Energy and spoke at the South Dakota Corn Annual Meeting.  He says the U.S. has the capacity and regulatory framework to produce various domestically produced mobility fuels.

He says to achieve that the biofuels and petroleum industries will need to team up.  However, that seems unlikely with the attacks on the Renewable Fuels Standard. Hofmeister says when he was with Shell Oil they supported and sold ethanol, but the oil

He says energy independence also comes from boosting consumer choice at the pump.

Hofmeister warned that the low gas prices have been spurred by Saudi Arabia’s strategic and politically motivated overproduction of crude oil and that market environment will not last.