BOISE, Idaho — The main supplier of gasoline to southern Idaho hopes to boost supplies in summer 2001, possibly bringing Idaho motorists significant price relief.
Chevron Corp., which owns the pipeline that pumps gasoline from Salt Lake City through Idaho to terminals in Pasco, Wash., wants to reverse the pipeline's flow, bringing fuel products inland from the coast, a spokesman said.
The change should boost supplies and force prices down dramatically in Idaho.
A report by Attorney General Al Lance's gasoline price task force in December blamed Idaho's high fuel prices on tight supplies but also raised questions about how suppliers are setting prices for Idaho markets. Southern Idaho receives almost all its gas from Salt Lake City via the Chevron south-to-north pipeline.
The task force, headed by former Attorney General Jim Jones, urged Chevron to reverse the flow of the section of the pipeline between Boise and Pasco, a city on the Columbia River in south-central Washington.
While the pipeline runs mostly full from Salt Lake City, most of the fuel comes out of the line in Pocatello, Burley and Boise. The Boise-to-Pasco stretch often is unused.
Chevron continues to keep its pipeline plans close to the vest. But earlier this month, company spokesman Dan Johnson said Chevron hopes to reverse that flow by summer of next year.
"We're trying to move forward with the pipeline reversal," Johnson said. "That's the proposal that's under consideration. We're hoping to start up in the summer of 2001."
Jones estimated the move would increase Idaho supplies by as much as 50 percent.
"It would have to be a good piece of news for everybody," he said.
Dave Carlson of the AAA's Oregon and Idaho branch said one reason other states are catching up to Idaho's high gas prices is that the summer smog season has forced retailers in many areas that do not meet clean-air standards to begin selling cleaner, more expensive reformulated fuel.
Carlson, who served with Jones on Lance's task force, does not expect much price relief for Idaho drivers this year. He joined Jones in expressing disappointment that the task force's report did not persuade Idaho fuel suppliers to work harder to drive down prices.
"We made some noise, and we probably made a few folks in the industry a little nervous," Carlson said. "But we are now back to where we were in terms of limited supply and an infrastructure that is limited in its ability to deliver product to Idaho."
Chevron's Johnson said his company continues to study "some of the regulatory and technical and commercial issues" regarding reversing the pipeline's flow.
"This is a very dynamic situation," Johnson said. "Things can change, but we are very interested in pursuing this project."