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Jun 14, 2006 11:12 AM

Diesel production rose 1.2 percent in May, compared to year-earlier levels, and for the first time included a significant amount, about 400,000 barrels per day, of ultra low sulfur diesel (ULSD), according to the monthly statistical report of the American Petroleum Institute (API).

“A tremendous amount of investment, planning, and hard work is going into being able to provide this cleaner fuel, and we are just beginning to see the results,” said Ron Planting, API’s manager of statistical information and analysis.

Those numbers should continues to rise as from June 1 refiners and importers are required by federal law to produce or import enough of this cleaner fuel to provide 80 percent of on-highway diesel, API said. (The 15 parts per million of sulfur content requirement will be phased in between June 2006, 80 percent of fuel sold, and 2010, 100 percent. Off-road equipment has five years until it must comply with the ULSD requirement.)