But administration officials and even some big producers, including British Petroleum, reject this gloomy assessment, in part because the rules give refiners ample lead time.
Industry representatives are urging the Bush administration, Congress and the federal courts to revise the rules, which refiners say could lead to shortages and price increases for diesel fuel when the guidelines begin to take effect in 2006.
Government lawyers asked the court to stop the deal after the commission concluded it was anti-competitive and could lead to sharply higher prices for refiners in California and other West Coast states where gasoline prices at the pump are already among the highest in the nation.
So far the E.P.A. has had little choice but to repeatedly waive nearly all of the cellulosic requirement, but this has led to bitter complaints from the refiners, who say they are still required to use small quantities of a fuel that does not exist or face fines.
Optimism reigned on a low-volume day for Wall Street, as investors embraced an encouraging report on the U.S. economy and sent the market for gains led by financials, retailers and oil refiners.
Energy stocks led the market's broad gain, paced by refiners.
The number of disk refiners are determined by the refining energy, as used in the previous section.
Last week, a federal court agreed to speed up New York City's $300 million lawsuit against oil refiners for a huge spill in Jamaica, Queens, the lead case in a group of 115 related lawsuits.
In moving last month to block the proposed acquisition of ARCO by BP Amoco, the largest deal ever to be blocked by the federal government, the F.T.C. said such a deal could lead to substantially higher prices for Alaskan crude oil at refiners on the West Coast, where prices at the gas pump are already among the highest in the nation.
Officials said the proposed acquisition could lead to significant increases in the price of crude oil for refiners in California and other West Coast states, where prices at the gas pump far exceed the national average.
