In a development that will increase liquidity and transparency in the RIN market, two major providers are making RIN future contracts available to be traded.  Both CME Group and the IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) will have RIN products available to be traded by mid May.  CME Group and ICE will enable over the counter trading (OTC) of D4 RINs, D5 RINs, and D6 RINs.  D6 RINs are the most common RINs, typically fulfilled by corn ethanol production.  D5 RINs are the most flexible premium RINs, representing advanced biofuel that may consist of biogas, advanced drop in fuels, or other fuel types that meet the 50% GHG reduction standard.  D4 RINs are biomass-based diesel RINs, fulfilled primarily by biodiesel and renewable diesel fuels.  The development of a futures market could provide a substantial boost to the development of advanced biofuel facilities by enabling their financing.  Many financial market participants have in the past regarded RIN revenue as too speculative to include in a plant’s pro forma but are likely to be reassured by the presence of RINs in the OTC market.  We speculated in our recent white paper that the EPA’s rulemaking on Quality Assurance Programs (QAPs) could facilitate the establishment of a RIN futures market.  See http://www.stoel.com/showarticle.aspx?Show=10180