Posted on 09/08/2015 5:10:57 AM PDT by thackney
A heavier-than-usual season of refinery maintenance will begin after a busy summer driving season ends this Labor Day weekend.
The summer saw high gasoline demand and falling prices at the pump, but the coming months could see up to 1.3 million fewer barrels of crude oil a day processed into gasoline as some refineries are temporarily shut down, said analyst Brad Heffern of RBC Capital Markets.
Gasoline demand has been phenomenal and better than I ever thought, Heffern said.
Many refineries ran at higher capacities and for longer periods of time than usual partly because of demand, but also because some major refineries temporarily went offline unexpectedly, such as BPs refinery in Whiting, Indiana.
offline unexpectedly ??? Anybody buying that ?
The penalty the working man pays when whacko libtards block every effort to build new refineries for 30 years!
Please explain what you believe happened.
“The penalty the working man pays when whacko libtards block every effort to build new refineries for 30 years!”
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
While I wholeheartedly agree, I wonder how much the Koch Brothers and other refinery owners had to do with blocking potential competition.
There were 140 operable petroleum refineries in the United States as of January 1, 2015.
Two new refineries began operating in early 2015:
The newest refinery with significant downstream unit capacity began operating in 1977 in Garyville, Louisiana. That facility came online in 1977 with an initial atmospheric distillation unit capacity of 200,000 b/cd, and as of January 1, 2015 had capacity of 522,000 b/cd.
Capacity has also been added to existing refineries through upgrades or new construction. The most recent examples are:
The newest refineries currently operating in the United States:
Year Built | First Operated | Location | Original Owner | Original Capacity b/cd | Current Owner | 2014 Capacity b/cd |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2014 | 2015 | Dickinson, ND | Dakota Prairie | 19,000 | Dakota Praire Refining | 19,000 |
2014 | 2015 | Galena Park, TX | Kinder Morgan | 42,000 | Kinder Morgan | 42,000 |
2008 | 2008 | Douglas, WY | Interline Resources | 3,000 | Antelope Refining | 3,800 |
1998 | 1998 | Atmore, AL | Goodway | 4,100 | Goodway | 4,100 |
1993 | 1993 | Valdez, AK | Petro Star | 26,300 | Petro Star | 55,000 |
1991 | 1992 | Ely, NV | Petro Source | 7,000 | Foreland | 2,000 |
1986 | 1987 | North Pole, AK | Petro Star | 6,700 | Petro Star | 19,700 |
1985 | 1986 | Prudhoe Bay, AK | ARCO | 12,000 | Phillips 66 | 15,000 |
1979 | 1980 | Wilmington, CA | Huntway | 5,400 | Valero | 6,300 |
1978 | 1979 | Vicksburg, MS | Ergon | 10,000 | Ergon | 23,000 |
1978 | 1979 | North Slope, AK | ARCO | 13,000 | BP Exploration, AK | 10,500 |
1977 | 1978 | Lake Charles, LA | Calcasieu | 6,500 | Calcasieu | 80,000 |
1976 | 1977 | Garyville, LA | Marathon | 200,000 | Marathon | 522,000 |
1976 | 1977 | Krotz Springs, LA | Gold King | 5,000 | Alon | 80,000 |
1975 | 1975 | Corpus Christi, TX | Saber | 15,000 | Valero | 205,000 |
So if gasoline demand is up from last year, why do these same analysts say the demand for crude is at an all time low?
I have not read that anywhere. Demand for crude is still climbing. The growth rate for crude oil has slowed. The growth rate for supply was running faster and has slowed some, but not enough, to lift oil prices back up.
Also, this article is talking about US demand for gasoline. Oil is fungible. Global oil demand (and supply) is what pushes the oil prices less the cost of transportation.
SHORT-TERM ENERGY OUTLOOK
Global Petroleum and Other Liquids
http://www.eia.gov/forecasts/steo/report/global_oil.cfm
Saw gas for $1.99 outside of Houston yesterday.
Just waitng for the Saudis to implode so all can return to normal.
Oh here it goes
Prices propped as refineries close for “ maintenance” caused by high demand from our super heated economy
Bee Ess
Yeah, because it always makes good business sense to shut down your production unnecessarily to raise prices for your competitors to make more money while you set on the sidelines.
But but but we have so much refinery capacity it shouldn’t matter if we export offshore and help them build refineries
Wan’t that discussed last week?
No market manipulation at play here, no way
nature abhors a vacuum and tptb abhor cheap gasoline, it only encourages the peasants
Where are any claims there will be shortage?
They are talking about planned shutdowns during the normal seasonal slack demand period.
Not shortages friend, prices
We’ll revisit this in a month or so and see where the pump prices are
Bookmark
Fair enough. We will compare them relative to oil prices. But I don’t think the planned maintenance shutdowns discussed here will have started that soon.
Yep, I’ve heard that because of enviro extremists, that we haven’t built any new refineries in years. So, the refineries are always stretched to capacity.
How much more gas do we use than 30 years ago? Yet we have the same refining capacity to deliver the gasoline.
I wonder too, about how long refineries operate before they need major maintenance/upgrades or replacing? Yet we are in a situation in which we can’t build new refineries. What happens when refineries reach the end of their life spans???
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