On May 16, 8:18 am, "Matt Barrow"
wrote:

The fact is that U.S. refining capacity has been growing at about 1% a year
for the past decade - the equivalent of adding a mid-size refinery every
year. Since 1996, U.S. refiners have expanded capacity by more than 2
million barrels a day This is a remarkable achievement in the face of
environmental mandates setting new ethanol usage and low-sulfur
requirements.

But the last major refinery built in the U.S. was in Garyville, La., in 1976
and the ones we have are getting older, no matter how well they're
maintained.

I dont know about the rest of the country but I do know about
Louisiana. Right now you cannot go to a refinery complex on the
Southern Louisiana area and not see them doing MASSIVE expansion,
doubling sometimes tripling the refinery complex. From Norco/Avondale/
St. Rose near MSY (just south of it) up the river to L38 (Gonzalez)
where Sorento/Giesimer/Fina etc all the way to Baton Rouge (Port
Allen) the bulldozers and welders are working as we speak.

You mention Garyville. That is the Marathon Garyville refinery near
REserve airport. In the last year it has doubled its size and now is
set for at least a doubling of that size. They are 'as we speak"
clearing the old sugar cane fields for new "smokestacks". The
Chocktow is also expanding.

the "we have not built a new refinery since XXXX" sounds good but is
misleading.

Avgas in LA is cracked at the Sorento refinery near L38.

Robert
At St. James tank farm it has tripled since Katrina the number of
storage tanks.