Why you pay $4/gal of gas.

[onebxr]

Originally Posted by screwballl

One line says it all in PRTMANs link:



BOOM headshot.... new refineries are not being built so existing refineries are already at 99-100% capacity while usage continues to go up. It will continue until the major users build more refineries and fast or a major and cheap alternative fuel (not ethanol) takes over.

This is just not true! My father-in-law works for Zachary, he is a project manager, Zachry Construction Corporation - construction, project management, industrial maintenance and project management and they are building and refitting oil refineries. They are also working to build nuclear power plants, to reduce our dependence on oil. Please do research before spouting untruths as facts.
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[PTRMAN]

I'm pretty sure no nuclear plants have been licensed in the US since the Three Mile Island bit. Are you sure they're building nuclear power plants in the US? And where are the refineries being built?

[onebxr]

Nuclear Power 2010 Program - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[PTRMAN]

Yeah - after I posted I went to Wiki too and saw that too.

I think, though, that it is one thing for the Department of Energy to solicit applications for licensing but completely another thing to get past all the NIMBYs to actually get the thing up and running.

I spent enough time in Missouri to adopt their famed "show me" attitude - I'll believe it when I see it.

[drew and not u]

Nuclear power can save us until we can perfect fusion!

[onebxr]

Originally Posted by PTRMAN

Yeah - after I posted I went to Wiki too and saw that too.

I think, though, that it is one thing for the Department of Energy to solicit applications for licensing but completely another thing to get past all the NIMBYs to actually get the thing up and running.

I spent enough time in Missouri to adopt their famed "show me" attitude - I'll believe it when I see it.

They have made quite a few advances in the nuclear power plant department. I dont know all the ins and outs of this, but we have come a long way since 3 mile island. But let me assure you they are being built. And with this gas crunch the plants are on the fast track.
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[PTRMAN]

OK - it is dated but the important reference point is the "no new refineries in the US in the past 29 years". That was as of three years ago.
CorpWatch*:*US: No New Refineries in 29 Years

[PTRMAN]

And the other side of the coin from exactly one year ago...

ConocoPhillips executive says Congressional plans stall new U.S. refineries - Cleveland Business News – The Latest Breaking News, Earnings Reports and Stories from The Plain Dealer

Appears there have been no new refineries built here for so long partly because of environmental/regulatory red tape (perceived or actual isn't clear) but also partly because of no need (until Katrina) to build new ones, as existing ones were running at about 85% capacity (at least at Conoco in early 2007). I wonder what the oil execs are doing/saying these days about new refineries?

Incidentally note - June 2007 court case where judge ruled the first new rifinery in 30 years - as noted in an earlier post - could proceed on Indian land in AZ. So two years after announcing plans to build a new refinery (in May 2005) a court case was settled saying plans could proceed.

I take a couple things from this (admittedly) incomplete research - officially it may be very easy to build a new refinery, but on a practical basis you're talking years and years of effort to plan and build in the face of often hostile NIMBYs. That's a LONG time frame for any company to consider. Also, until recently at least, there wasn't any need for new refineries due to spare capacity.

Any "spare" capacity seems gone, but the fact, I suspect, is that the public's willingness to accept new refineries (which you might infer from a LACK of lawsuits about them) is still very strong.

[onebxr]

Alot of what is being done now is the refitting and reworking of old refineries to make them more efficient. This is more cost/time effecient than haggling with the tree huggers.
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[screwballl]

Good points across the board...
and I knew about the no new refineries situation...
what we need is at least 4-5 new refineries AND to start drilling locally to reduce our foreign dependence.... that or just create the magnetic motor so no fuel is needed at all.