SHOWDOWN LOOMS BETWEEN BIG OIL AND BIG CORN –

Oil refinery bosses have told Donald Trump to ignore demands by the rural sector to increase government mandates for biofuels, as the president faces a tough fight to keep both farmers and the oil industry happy ahead of his 2020 re-election bid. The EPA normally grants exemptions (SREs) only to small, financially distressed oil companies, but farmers were angered when it emerged that they were also given to oil giants. On Monday, Reuters cited anonymous sources saying that Trump had tentatively approved a plan to help farmers by increasing the amount of biofuels that oil refiners must blend by 10 percent. (Newsweek)