Absolutely. They ARE in it for the money. If you have a system that makes money for you and is dependent on output, the more output, the more money you make, then there are a couple of things that are almost certainly going to happen:
First, you are going to use your capacity to the fullest. No matter what. I don’t work in the industry, but I am willing to bet the people who work there are under pressure to squeeze every last drop of refined product out. More refined product=More money.
Second, If someone goes to management and says “We have a problem. If we don’t shut this line down and fix (insert problem here) we are going to have an unscheduled interruption due to an equipment failure...” you can be sure he is going to be viewed with a very hairy eyeball. I can just hear the response now: “How much longer can we go with it?” and they are going to probably take it as close to failure as they can go.
Secondly, from what I understand, there is a constant flux in the type of refining that is done, depending on the needs of the market. The refineries have to retool depending on the needs of the market. Retooling involves a decrease in production. The market drives it. When politicians start getting involved in mandating how much diesel fuel versus how much gasoline, kerosene or naval distillate is produced, you can bet that there is going to be a glut of diesel fuel somewhere, and a shortage of kerosene somewhere else. The market is the best way to control those things. Money talks. In this case, the government getting involved in pushing ethanol on the refineries AND us has to have an effect beyond the cost of beef going up because it costs more to feed the cattle because corn is being sold to make fuel.
Look there aren’t lines in front of gas stations, ergo there is no supply crunch. You can produce all of a commodity that you want, doesn’t mean you’re going to sell it any faster, especially when prices are up. And gasoline is a perishable commodity, it has a 2-3 month shelf life before it starts turning into turpentine. There is only so much capacity in tank farms. It makes perfect economic sense that if the demand equals X, then I’m going to supply X amount. Surpluses drive prices down, meaning that this much vaunted slim profit margin BS would be exacerbated.