On Wed, 26 Apr 2006 13:55:01 +0000, Gorf wrote:


A LOT of rhetoric has centered around the shortage of refineries. The
greenies have been blamed for that shortage, but who has profited from
that bottleneck - not the greens. EPA regulations are more strict than
they were 20 years ago, but refineries can still be built. The oil
companies just like to use the refineries shortage as an excuse to boost
their profit margins.

The refinery shortage is a canard. In point of fact, the oil industry has
been closing refineries to streamline operations, and increase
profitability. There is nothing wrong with that, but to hold refining
capacity as a bottleneck, is disingenuous. In truth, I have been unable
to find any verifiable attempt to build a new refinery in the past twenty
years.