Re: Motivation for the Oil Barons

Fred Weiss wrote:
> 
> But this is precisely why we have not had a new oil refinery built in
> the country in 32 years....

>
http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2008/06/04/news/top/4e608d46402d5adb8625745e00110beb.txt

quote:
"Sup****ters argued that tapping into reserves from our neighbor to the 
north would reduce the nation's dependence on Mideast oil and add badly 
needed refining capacity in the U.S., where the last all-new refinery 
was built in 1976."

^^^^

Now, the truth is that 'they' don't want to build new refineries.

http://www.citizen.org/cmep/energy_enviro_nuclear/electricity/Oil_and_Gas/articles.cfm?ID=11829


And:
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/crude-futures-end-one-month-low/story.aspx?guid=%7BB91F6089-4E43-4B3D-8291-9E6657EF94AB%7D&dist=msr_4

quote:
Refinery buzz
But refinery utilization was up 1.8% at 89.7% of capacity compared with 
87.9 % a week earlier, the Energy Department re****ted. The increase 
prompted a rise in petroleum products.
Refinery operating capacity is at its highest level since the beginning 
of the year, according to Chris Lafakis, an associate economist at 
Moody's Economy.com.
Motor gasoline supplies rose 2.9 million barrels to 209.1 million 
barrels, according to the Energy Department. They were up 2.2 million 
barrels at 210.4 million, the API said.
Distillate stocks were up 2.3 million barrels at 111.7 million barrels, 
the government figures showed. They climbed by 4.5 million barrels, the 
API said.

^^^^^^
Fred doesn't know **** about the subject. 80-90% utilization is what the 
industry shoots for to get a reasonable return on capital investment.