Leader of The Nationals in the Senate, Ron Boswell, today commended BP on their latest commitment to securing Australia's future fuel supplies, after the company revealed plans to enter into MOUs with potential domestic ethanol producers. Senator Boswell welcomed the increased commitment to ethanol blended fuels from BP and called on the other oil companies and the supermarket fuel distributors to match this effort. "It's about time Shell, Caltex and Mobil did a bit of the heavy lifting," Senator Boswell said. "I look forward to the promise of increased E10 fuel availability being turned into reality when the proposed ethanol plants at Kwiwana, Brisbane and Gunnedah are actually built," he said.   "At this stage BP's increased commitment to future biofuel production is based on MOU's with as yet unbuilt facilities. I hope this provides enough financial certainty for these projects to secure funding from investors and that we see the 'sods being turned' on these plants as soon as possible.   Senator Boswell also welcomed the announcement of a contract with Manildra to increase supply of ethanol from November this year. "The announcement of a 3 million litre contract with Manildra with negotiations over a further 12 million litres can only represent good news for motorists in the Southern States," Senator Boswell said.   "It is imperative that ethanol blended fuel be made available to motorists as soon as possible and that oil companies pass on the discounts made possible by the Federal Government's excise free status for alternative fuels," he said. "The Government must not relax its pressure on the oil companies to provide consumers the choice of biofuels. "Even though BP has promised to achieve the target on its own, the other oil companies also have a responsibility. The fuel is not available yet and continued pressure from consumers and Governments alike needs to be maintained to ensure a long term industry-wide approach to increasing the level of biofuels accessible for use by all Australians," Senator Boswell said.   ENDS Media Contact – 07 3001 8150