Leader of The Nationals in the Senate, Ron Boswell, today welcomed Caltex's announcement of a 3-cent price differential between its ethanol blends and its regular unleaded fuel. "Passing on savings on ethanol blends will help consumers to make the small but significant jump to using ethanol blended fuel where it is avaialable. With current high fuel prices, every cent helps," Senator Boswell said. "I am also encouraged that Caltex are moving to introduce more e10 pumps, committing to increasing their ethanol pump numbers from 41 to 100 before the end of the year," he said. "This is the kind of commitment from the oil majors that The Nationals have been calling for, to make sure current cost savings from ethanol are passed on to the consumer, and to make sure that ethanol blended fuel is made readily available so that consumers can make their own choice as to whether to put it in their tanks. Senator Boswell called for Australia's other oil companies to also pass on cost savings and supply more of their outlets with ethanol blended fuel. "Caltex has decided to put their best foot forward, and it now makes perfect sense for the other oil companies to come in behind them and get serious about selling e10 at a lower price and at more outlets throughout Australia. "The challenge will be to make sure ethanol blends are made available in the high volume markets in the  cities to ensure that it is not just country and regional centres that benefit from lower prices and the environmental and health benefits that this cleaner-burning fuel offers," Senator Boswell said. ENDS Media Contact - 02 6277 3244