We're often told a lack of refining capacity in the United States is contributing to the high cost of gasoline in that country. If that were truly the case, one might rightfully ask why the U.S. exports 1.6 million barrels of finished petroleum products each day. (*)
Source:
(*) Yes, I know. It's the fault of those "widdly toed pink wearing f***in queer tree huggers".
That's a tough one, but I'll venture some wild-ass guesses:
I pick door number one! What's my prize, Monty?
Cheers, Paul
Paul M. Eldridge wrote: ...
Read the article, it says why, you simply have to comprehend...
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What this article tells me is that there's no merit to such claims; namely, that there's no shortage of refined product or refining capacity and, consequently, no negative impact on retail price.
Cheers, Paul
Gee, and if you read the article you'd find out why:
But many energy experts say oil and petroleum products are traded globally, and it may make economic sense to export gasoline refined along the U.S. Gulf Coast to Latin America and import European-refined gasoline to U.S. East Coast markets.
and
John Felmy, the chief economist at the American Petroleum Institute, said a portion of the oil products exported, especially diesel, was fuel that did not meet U.S. clean air requirements and therefore could not be sold in America. "You may have some that you're not able to use," he said.
| >Read the article, it says why, you simply have to comprehend... | | What this article tells me is that there's no merit to such claims; | namely, that there's no shortage of refined product or refining | capacity and, consequently, no negative impact on retail price.
What this tells me is that this has nothing to do with home repair!
I believe that Chevron has refineries in Texas that are jointly owned with Hugo Chavez. If that's the case, I would expect a certain amount of finished product to go back to where the crude originated
Correct. Finished products are bought and sold on the world market and increasing domestic refining capacity would have little or no material impact on retail price given that the marketplace is already well served. If anything, adding more capacity would only drive many of the smaller, independent players out of business.
Cheers, Paul
On 7/4/2008 12:29 PM Calab spake thus:
Your complaint has been duly noted. You will be receiving a TS letter from us shortly.
Especially considering the number of shuttered refineries in the US already. Why here in the Buffalo / Niagara Falls area there are two refineries that were completely shut down in the 70's, just standing there rusting away...
Exactly. In the early '80s, there were over 300 refineries operating in the United States and as of January 1st, 2008, there are now just
150. Yet, with expansion, refining capacity has remained about the same -- 17.6 million barrels per day versus 17.9 million -- and utilization factors have improved from 74.0% in January 1985 to 86.2% in April, 2008. Refiners have the ability to produce more gasoline if needed, but the crack spread is so low that many of the smaller players are slowly being squeezed to death; it's simply cheaper to import gasoline from other countries where it is available in excess supply (to get a sense of just how tight things are, take a look at the bottom two lines of the graph shown here:Cheers, Paul
P.S.: When I lived in Toronto, Youngstown, NY was my second home. I have many great friends in the WNY area and fond memories of my time spent there.
And that's the key point. We need to educate ourselves and draw our own conclusions; otherwise, we allow ourselves to be manipulated by others who may not have our best interests at heart.
Cheers, Paul
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