Bold Relief.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(EDITORIALS)(Editorial)

Energy: Gasoline prices with seemingly no ceiling have the administration mulling removal of fuel blend regulations to boost supplies.

Crude futures fell a bit before the Memorial Day weekend, which is taking some pressure off retail gasoline prices. But pump prices are still painful to most Americans.

(Save us the sermons about Europeans and Japanese having to pay more than $5 for a gallon of gas. Cheap fuel exists -- Venezuelans pay less than 20 cents a gallon.)

Clearly, U.S. motorists need relief.

Various solutions, such as price caps and tinkering with the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, have been floated. A more sensible plan making the rounds is to waive regulations that require special fuel reformulations, or blends, in some regions.

Across the country, federal regulations require at least a dozen boutique blends, each specifically tailored for a different metropolitan area. The blends are designed to protect air quality.

The unintended consequence of these regulations has been soaring gasoline prices. They're certainly not the sole factor, but they have had an impact. When supplies in an area using reformulated gas get tight, fuel from nearby areas where supplies are not as stretched cannot be shipped in to meet demand -- unless that area shares the same blend. The rules also make it impossible to import foreign gasoline to make up for shortages.