Why doesn't the US have more oil refineries?

Question

If we did, would the price of gas decrease?

Answer 1

Because we used up all our oil back in the early 1900s with Standard Oil business. Now we have to import.

Answer 2

Any time you use your own resources as opposed to getting them from someone else yeah that would bring the cost down. We only have so much oil we can consume though=\

Answer 3

The US does not have the large oilfields some other countries have.  Our strength is in our coal mines.  We can turn the coal into oil OK, but the problem is with all the impurities like nitrogen and sulfur compounds and heavy metals in the coal which poisons our expensive catalysts in the refineries.  If we can ever figure out a way to clean the impurities out of coal we'd have enough coal oil to meet our needs for the next 200 years, without importing a drop.

Answer 4

It's very difficult to get approval to build large oil refineries because nobody wants them within even a few miles of where they live.  But you can't just put them out in the desert either.  Some of the refineries that are in place now are over 40 years old and they'll probably still be used 40 years from now.

Yes, the price of gas would decrease if we could refine more oil than we do currently, because usable supply would increase.