Valero Energy Group, the nation's largest oil refiner, has left the Renewable Fuels Association only a few months after the company failed in its campaign to get federal officials to rewrite rules for blending ethanol with motor fuels, Reuters news service reported Monday.

Valero joined RFA in 2016 as part of a larger effort by the company to reshape the Renewable Fuel Standard, which contains the ethanol requirement, according to Reuters. Specifically, Valero officials wanted to shift the burden of blending away from refiners, which would save the company hundreds of millions of dollars.

RFA signaled its willingness to support the plan in early 2017, resulting in the association being booted from Fuels America, a coalition of groups representing biofuel producers and distributors. In a statement, the coalition said RFA was "no longer aligned with America's biofuel industry and the Fuels America coalition has resolved to sever ties with the group."

The proposed regulatory changes failed to materialize in large part because of opposition from farmers and other agriculture interests, which grow corn and other crops that used to produce ethanol.

Valero said in a statement it was leaving RFA due to cost cutting at the company. The refiner was RFA's largest member. The association lists dozens of members on its website. http://reut.rs/2G8ka5i

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