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The price of the D4 Renewable Identification Number (RIN) has increased by 130% so far in 2026. The jump in the price of this RIN — a federal environmental credit that functions as a subsidy for the production of diesel made from soybean oil and other renewable feedstocks, but also as a tax on the production of conventional diesel made from crude oil — has been accompanied by a 60% increase in the price of soybean oil. Today’s RBN blog gives a high-level view of what is behind this year’s bull run in the D4 RIN and related commodities.
In 2026 and 2027, U.S. refiners and importers are obligated to supply nearly 6 billion gallons per year of diesel made from feedstocks like soybean oil to the U.S. market. That’s 10% of all diesel to be consumed in the U.S. This obligation stems from the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), which we’ve written about for years, going all the way back to 2012’s A Market of Contradictions. The RFS is administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and includes mandates for minimum annual production volumes of four different categories of renewable fuels: Cellulosic Biofuel, Bio-Based Diesel, Advanced Biofuel and Total Renewable Fuel.
Through the credit trading system created with the RFS, refiners who don’t have the capability to produce diesel from renewable feedstocks can effectively borrow that capability from others who do. You can do that by buying D4 RINs, reporting that transaction to the government, then “retiring” the RINs (see dashed red box in Figure 1 below). By paying for and retiring those RINs, you have effectively rented the capacity to produce your government-mandated quota of renewable diesel, while some other biofuel producer has fulfilled your obligation to supply it to the U.S. market. Many refiners produce renewable diesel — the common name for the product made in petroleum refineries — at facilities modified to convert soybean oil into diesel. They include Calumet Inc., Chevron, HollyFrontier, Marathon Petroleum, Par Pacific Holdings, PBF Energy, Phillips 66 and Valero.
