Gasoline for January delivery surged as it became the front-month contract Tuesday, boosted by new ethanol requirements that have traders betting prices may rise, analysts and brokers said. While front-month gasoline was nearly unchanged, the January contract gained 5.61 cents, or 4.3%, from the prior session to settle at $1.363 a gallon. December futures expired Monday. Diesel futures for January also jumped, up 1.48 cents, or 1.1%, to settle at $1.369 a gallon. Both outpaced U.S. and global crude. In addition to catching up with the higher December settlement from the prior session, gasoline got support from an Environmental Protection Agency decision Monday. It will require fuel companies to blend 18.11 billion gallons of corn-based ethanol and other biofuels into gasoline next year, higher than the 17.4 billion it proposed in May. Pipelines in Cushing, Okla. The oversupply of crude continues to weigh heavily on sentiment. Since the announcement, […]