Why don't we have more refineries ?

Question

People are being really quick to blame Bush for the high gas prices, this is taken for granted. But, did you ever stop to think about when the last new refinery came on line? Wasn't it in the mid 1970s' ? Now if the supply remains constant, and the ability to increase the supply isn't there, and the demand goes up by a considerable amount, wouldn't the price goes up too? Now to those who want to blame Bush, has he been the one who has kept the refineries at the mid 1970s level?

Answer 1

We really don't need more refineries. We need more conservation. Every car on the road needs to get at least 30 mpg by 2010, 35mpg by 2015, and 40mpg by 2020.

Did you read "OPEC warned that high pump prices are likely to erode global demand for crude". OPEC is afraid high prices would force us to conserve or find other energy sources. Maybe we won't continue to be addicted to their oil.

We should put at bottom on gas prices at $4.50 per gallon and $125 barrel of oil.  We should also put a cap on the amount of futures trades on energy -- no more than 20% -- this would reduce the price increase due to oil speculation.  Any excess will be money should be used to pay for research and implementation of solar, wind and nuclear energy (why hasn't there been a single nuclear power plant built since 1970's. France gets 80% of its electricity from nuclear. They are way ahead of us) and biomass. Not corn ethanol. Get rid of corn subsidies. I want to see cellulosic ethanol. Instead of a petroleum refinery, I'd like to see chemical refinery plant that converts non-edible parts of plants directly into liquid fuel.

Answer 2

refineris are nasty tings that no one wants in their backyard.  Expensive to build and run if the price of oil suddenly drops, so companies are reluctant to build more than they think they'll need in the short term.

Answer 3

You are zillion percent correct about lack of refineries at currant time, but in my opinion total fool if you think environmental regulations are to blame. Big energy controls this country and if they wanted more refineries they would be built. There is a not in my back yard and some environmental laws that make it much more expensive to build new refineries. Let China open gas stations in USA and see how many USA refineries are built. Some will be built but not many because gas is fast becoming another whale oil.

Answer 4

Because there is so much red tape invalved and the NIMBY factor prevents it from happening. We as a nation complain about high fuel prices, but don't want to do what it takes to solve the problem.