Caltex announced today it had achieved a new milestone for the number of Caltex supplied service stations selling ethanol blended petrol.

E10 Unleaded, which contains 10 percent ethanol blended with regular unleaded petrol, is now sold at over 150 sites in the Caltex service station network from Cairns to Canberra. This is more than triple the number of sites selling E10 Unleaded in mid-2006.

There are currently 69 sites in the Caltex network in Queensland selling E10 Unleaded, 81 in NSW and 3 in the ACT.

"Caltex is committed to making a significant contribution to the development of a sustainable biofuels industry in Australia," Caltex Managing Director and CEO Des King said. "Reaching the milestone of 150 sites is a great achievement for Caltex and our customers.

"The latest Caltex research shows over 50 per cent of motorists in Sydney and Brisbane who have not yet used ethanol blend petrol would consider using it. This is encouraging for further market growth.

"All new Australian made cars are suitable for use with a 10 per cent ethanol blend and also the vast majority of new imported cars. According to research commissioned by the Australian Government, about 60 per cent of vehicles in Australia are suitable for use with E10.

"E10 Unleaded gives Caltex customers a wider choice of fuels. E10 Unleaded is the choice for the future as it reduces greenhouse gas emissions and Australia's reliance on fossil fuels.

"Caltex has committed to annual targets under the Australian Government's Biofuels Action Plan through to 2010. We achieved our 2006 target and are on track to meet our higher target for 2007.

"The 2010 Action Plan target of at least 350 million litres of biofuels blended into the fuel mix is the equivalent of at least 3500 million litres of biofuel blends. This volume is equal to 10 percent of Australian petrol and diesel demand.

"Caltex supports the Government's market-based policy approach and remains opposed to mandating the use of ethanol. Instead, governments should ensure that E10 can be priced by suppliers significantly below regular petrol, so consumers will choose ethanol blends instead.

"In the near to medium term, this could be achieved through a production bounty or grant for ethanol producers or some other financial mechanism, which would allow for a larger discount of ethanol blends to motorists at the pump and drive higher E10 sales.

"However, longer term sustainable development of ethanol will require commercialisation of much lower cost production through use of biomass rather than food crops. This emerging technology will enable large volumes of ethanol to be produced more cheaply and enable cost-effective reduction of greenhouse gas emissions."

Details of sites selling E10 Unleaded can be found through the service station locator at www.caltex.com.au. Information on which vehicles are suitable to use E10 Unleaded is available at Caltex service stations selling the product and at www.fcai.com.au.

Contact
Richard Beattie
Group Manager Corporate Affairs
Phone: 02 9250 5224
Pager: 02 9214 1146