Leader of The Nationals in the Senate, Ron Boswell, today welcomed BP's commitment to offer ethanol-blended fuel at 3-cents per litre less than its regular unleaded fuel under a new 'biorewards' programme. "Today we have seen both BP and Caltex taking positive steps toward meeting their biofuel targets by putting in place systems designed to pass on the Federal Government's excise rebate to consumers and this is to be welcomed," Senator Boswell said. "BP has now joined Caltex in committing to increasing the number of outlets where e10 fuel will be available and this is also a step in the right direction. "Consumers will welcome details on the operation of BP's new 'biorewards' programme. Senator Boswell repeated his earlier call for Australia's other major oil companies to also pass on cost savings and supply more of their high-volume outlets with ethanol blended fuel, and also said that the major fuel retailers now needed to get involved. "Now that both BP and Caltex have increased their commitment to marketing ethanol fuel, it is high time for the major fuel retailers in the form of Coles and Woolworths to come to the party and start stocking this fuel in their discounted service stations throughout metropolitan Australia. "Once this happens, and once BP and others significantly increase their e10 outlet and pump numbers, it would be hard to imagine that current ethanol production would be able to meet demand. "With this simple three cent discount, I expect that ethanol consumption will go through the roof everywhere where it is available, and it will become more vital for the oil companies to get their  forward contracts in place so that Australian companies wanting to produce ethanol can get on with building and expanding their ethanol production facilities to meet future demand," Senator Boswell said.  ENDS Media Contact – 02 6277 3244