(NAFB) – During the week ending on February 12, the Energy Information Administration announced that ethanol production dropped to its lowest level in five months while stockpiles grew.

The EIA report says that ethanol production fell to 911,000 barrels per day, down from 937,000 barrels a day during the prior week. That’s the lowest production level since late September. A Successful Farming report says the Midwest, which produces the most ethanol of any region in the country, saw its production drop to 868,000 barrels a day. That’s a drop from the 895,000 per day from the previous week and the lowest output level since late September.

The East Coast and Gulf Coast regions stayed at an average of 12,000 barrels per day, while the Rocky Mountain and West Coast production levels were unchanged at 9,000 barrels per day, on average, according to the EIA. Stockpiles increased to 24.297 million barrels in the seven days ending on February 12.

In other news the ethanol industry won’t like, the Environmental Protection Agency says that all 16 petitions from small refineries that would exempt them from meeting blending obligations under the Renewable Fuel Standard from 2020 are still pending. In total, 66 petitions that date back as far as 2011 are still pending.