Reducing the Nation's Dependence on Foreign Oil: We're Doing Our Part

The world oil situation has created a great deal of emotion in the marketplace. Employees of MFA Oil Company are often asked where our supplies of gasoline and diesel fuel originate and what our company is doing to reduce dependence on imports of energy products.

Securing and maintaining reliable sources of supply has always been of the utmost importance to MFA Oil Company. In fact, it is one of the reasons the company was established in 1929. Oil embargoes of the 1970s and price situations since that time have increased the necessity for supply stability, and the world situation today demands that we do everything possible to decrease dependence on supplies from other countries. Refinery ownership and promotion of alternative fuels – we call them “homegrown” fuels - help us meet those demands.

REFINERY OWNERSHIP. National Cooperative Refinery Association (NCRA) in McPherson, Kansas is owned by MFA Oil Company and two other regional energy cooperatives. Although most of the refinery’s crude oil requirements are purchased from oil producers in the mid-continent and west Texas regions rather than the Middle East, the purchase price is tied to the pricing structures that dictate the world price of crude oil.

HOMEGROWN FUELS. Because MFA Oil is a farmer-owned cooperative, marketing “home-grown” fuels is a natural for our company. We have been involved in their development since the late ‘70s, when we introduced gasohol to combat the OPEC embargo and supply disruption. MFA Oil is now one of the largest marketers of ethanol-blended gasoline in Missouri, and the product is available at most of our Petro-Card 24 locations and Break Time convenience stores at the same price as regular unleaded gasoline.

In 1993, we worked with the Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council to make soy biodiesel available to three rural electric cooperatives in central and northeast Missouri that were field-testing the fuel as part of research conducted by the University of Missouri. In early 2002, MFA Oil made Soyplus® biodiesel available at bulk oil plants throughout our market area. In 2005, MFA Oil became part-owner in Mid-America Biofuels, LLC, Missouri's first major biodiesel production facility located in Mexico, MO.

Alternative fuels are good for the environment, they decrease our dependence on foreign oil and they bring value to our customers. They also have potential to give an economic boost to farmers, who are the owners of MFA Oil Company.