"Mike Rapoport" wrote in message
nk.net...
Here is the official data:
http://www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/petro.../gasoline.html

Go there, then to the Production XLS file under History. Gasoline
production is up substantially in the past 20yrs as you would expect from
the increased number of cars and increased population.

Lets see: 1982-83 average is 6800bbl/day (at 81% capacity), 2004-05 avg is
8800 (at 96% capacity). Not quite 30%. I would suspect that more efficient
process and equipment has been a factor as well.

Now, since 1982, how much as US consumption of gasoline and other fuels
increased?

How much has the importation of gasoline (as oopsed to raw petroleum)
increased? I suspect that transportation of gasoline is much more costly
than petroleum since gasoline is explosive rather than merely flamable,
correct?


The reason no new refineries have been built is that it is cheaper to
expand existing ones because they already have all the infrastructure for
bringing crude in, the real estate is already owned and they are often
close to large markets.

When they expand, does it not require additional EPA compliance? How much
could they expand in the areas they already occupy?

The return on capital by increasing capacity at an existing refinery might
be double the return of building a new refinery.

Probably even more, like four or five times given the length of time before
a ROE is realized.

But how much can one enhance equipment when the refinery was built using, at
the latest, 35 year old technology?

It doesn't take a genius CEO to figure that one out. Is enviornmental
and other regulation a factor? Of course it is, but is not a big factor
when considering a multi-billion dollar refinery.

Ten years (minimum) delay and $billions$ before a single drop of fuel comes
out of the pipe is a big factor I'd say.

So why have they allowed more than half to close, given all that
infrastructure and accessibility?

Also, how many of our remaining 149 refineries are in either hurricane
zones, or hitching a ride on the San Andreas fault in California?


(18.6 Mbbl in 1981 vs 16.8Mbbl today)

http://www.investors.com/editorial/I...0051010&view=1

"
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., falsely claimed that the "major
oil companies haven't even tried to build one single new refinery in this
country in 30 years" and that they "do not really want to expand refinery
capacity because it would cut into their record-setting profits."

The fact is they increased capacity and use at least on a
refinery-by-refinery basis. In 1981, the U.S. had 324 refineries with a
total capacity of processing 18.6 million barrels of crude per day. Today
just 149 refineries have a daily capacity of 16.8 million barrels.

The refineries are doing more than ever, but their numbers are dwindling and
no new ones are being built. The reason is not greed, but cost and
regulations. From 1994 to 2003, the refining industry spent $47.4 billion
not to build new refineries, but to bring existing ones into compliance with
environmental rules."

------------------------------------------------------------

So, again, are there costs with EPA/OSHA/et al compliance for _expanding_
existing refineries?