Tom Sixkiller opined

"Ash Wyllie" wrote in message
...
Peter Gottlieb opined

"Tom Sixkiller" wrote in message
...

"Mike Rapoport" wrote in message
nk.net...
When it is profitable enough then more refining capacity will be
built.

Don't think so. Couldn't do it if they if they wanted to. If the regs
were
"relaxed", it would still be prohibitive after the cost of dealing with
the
regs were amortized.


If refining is so incredibly expensive here then why isn't the refining
being done where it is cheaper and the final product shipped here for
consumption?

WE are importing refined products from Europe and Venezuala. 10 or 20%,
IIRC.
But it is an inflexible pipeline, and some overseas refineries are not
willing
to upgrade in order to produce the latest EPA mandated concoctions.

The logical conclusion is that refining here, with all the regulations,
is
still economically favorable as compared to refining elsewhere.

The conclusion might be at the end of your previous paragraph.

I've heard that US refineries are operating at damn near 100% of ALLOWED
capacity. Can anyone verify that?


It is 90%+ of installed capacity. Which leaves very little room for error.

In 1981, according to the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association,
321 refineries pumped out 18.6 million barrels a day of gasoline. Today
only 149 refineries, run by 60 companies in 33 different states, pump out
16.8 million barrels of gasoline daily - almost 2 million barrels a day
less. They are operating at 93 percent of capacity, well above the
industrial average, with little time left for maintenance and upgrades.

Tom Bray, Washington Times


-ash
Cthulhu for President!
Why vote for a lesser evil?