A Little Bit More On RINs And Milton Bradley Board Games

I'm still trying to understand the federal shell game with the acronym RINs.

Platts is reporting:

Unlike many of refiners, renewable fuel credits, or RINs, were not a big factor in Tesoro's bottom line this year, partly because of its ample products blending capability. Credit Suisse analyst Edward Westlake said in a note the company has minimal exposure in 2013, but it will rise to about $106 million in 2014.

RINs are a tradeable credit many refiners are using to meet growing US federal mandates for renewable fuels in the transportation pool.

Refiners are relying more on RINs as growing renewable mandates fail to match weaker-than-expected transportation fuel demand. Those that can physically blend renewables into fuel like gasoline and diesel can cut their RINs purchases. A RIN is generated when the fuel is blended so the blender gets that RIN to either trade or keep and use to meet its federal renewables target.

"A RIN is generated ..." sounds like the rules from a Milton Bradley board game.  "The play always goes to the left. The game ends with there are no more RINs in the discard pile."