[whataretheysaying] Mary Madigan: Do we really need new refineries?

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Posted by Mary Madigan:
Do we really need new refineries?
http://whataretheysaying.powerblogs.com/posts/1213894361.shtml


   In his call for offshore drilling, President Bush also called for
   [1]more oil refineries in the US:

     Expand oil refineries in the U.S., where a refinery has not been
     built for three decades. Bush proposes regulatory reforms that
     could remove barriers to refinery construction -- namely public
     opposition. He proposes that any appeal of a federal permit for
     refinery expansion must be filed in federal court within 60 days.

   Some democrats have proposed that the government should [2]take
   control of the refinery issue by taking over the refineries

   But do we really need new refineries? [3]Big oil says no:

     Yesterday, as part of a daylong seminar on the energy industry for
     reporters at the Chronicle's offices, Exxon Mobil Vice President
     Kenneth Cohen offered some insights on why the company doesn't
     build more new refineries in the U.S. Basically, Cohen said,
     building even a small refinery would require an investment of $2
     billion to $3 billion.

     "Once you've made that investment, what you're looking at is
     `what's the growth?' It's just like any other business," he said.

     Exxon predicts U.S. oil demand may begin to fall by 2030, which
     means the company faces a limited window for return.

   Even Exxon is willing to admit that demand for oil may begin to fall
   by 2030, and they're planning for a future in which alternates play a
   larger role.

   If big oil doesn't want more refineries, why are Democrats and
   Republicans pushing them? Who wants these things?

   Why, our [4]friends in Saudi Arabia, of course. They've got lots of
   smelly crude to sell, and few current refineries want to buy it.

   Some people don't know how to plan for the future...

References

   1. http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-bush19-2008jun19,0,2224764.story
   2. http://poligazette.com/2008/06/19/democrats-propose-nationalizing-oil/
   3. http://blogs.chron.com/lorensteffy/archives/2005/09/exxons_views_on.html
   4. http://blogs.zdnet.com/green/?p=1112