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Del Cecchi wrote:

How about the outer continental shelf and gulf of Mexico? I believe the
argument relates to how much area is off limits. And how many new
refineries have been built in the last 20 years?

del


The fact is that no oil company has even proposed the construction of a
new refinery in a very long time. It is in the oil companies' best
interest to limit the number of refineries, and many of the major oil
companies are more concerned with shutting down their existing
refineries than in establishing new ones. There was a well publicized
case where one of the major oil companies announced it was shutting
down a refinery. An independent oil company stepped forward and offered
to pay fair market value for the refinery, (mega millions) but the big
oil company declined and said that it would rather bulldoze the site.
That should tell us all that there are more mega-millions to be made by
tearing down a refinery than by operating it or selling off the
equipment to somebody else who would.

You often hear the radio rabble rousers blame "the liberals" for
preventing the establishment of new oil refineries in the US, but the
oil companies have no collective interest in increasing refinery
capacity. Just try to find a current example of an application to build
an oil refinery of any type, let alone one that is being blocked by
"liberals". :-)


I watched an interview the other day with a big-wig from one of the major
oil companies (forget which one, but it doesn't matter). He claimed that
the environmental objections and permit obstacles were the major reasons for
the lack of new refineries in the US. He claimed that mucho dollars were
being spent to upgrade and make more efficient existing refineries as the
permitting process is not as complex.

So ... who to believe?

Also have to think about electrical energy. Power companies didn't stop
building nuclear power plants because they wanted to limit the supply of
electricity. They stopped because it became cost prohibitive to go through
the permitting and construction process.

RCE