Why are gas prices so high? It’s the oil refineries stupid! thumbnail

Why are gas prices so high? It’s the oil refineries stupid!

By Dr. Rich Swier

Today American’s are seeing the highest gasoline prices in their lifetimes at over $5.00 a gallon on average.

QUESTION: Why is this happening?

ANSWER: It’s the oil refineries stupid!

In 1982 there were over 250 operating crude oil refineries in the United States; that number declined to 132 by 2019.

As of January 1, 2021, there were 129 operable petroleum refineries in the United States a decline of 3 since 2019.

According to Zehl & Associates five of America’s ten largest oil refineries are located along the coastline of the Gulf of Mexico.

  • #1: Motiva Port Arthur Manufacturing Complex, Texas.
  • #2: Marathon Galveston Bay Refinery, Texas.
  • #3: Marathon Garyville Refinery, Louisiana.
  • #4: ExxonMobil Baytown Complex, Texas.
  • #5: ExxonMobil Baton Rouge Refinery, Louisiana.

NOTE: If a major hurricane hits the Texas and Louisiana coastline then these refineries will shut down.

The remaining six of the top ten are:

  • #6: BP Whiting Refinery, Indiana
  • #7: CITGO Lake Charles Refinery, Louisiana
  • #8: ExxonMobil Beaumont Complex, Texas
  • #9: Marathon Los Angeles (Carson) Refinery, California
  • #10: Chevron Pascagoula Refinery, Mississippi

These 10 refining facilities alone can process 2.6 million barrels of crude oil per calendar day. Texas is home to four of the ten largest refineries in the United States, the entire Texas Gulf Coast Region – including Corpus Christi, Port Arthur, and Beaumont – accounts for more than 87% of total production in the state of Texas and more than a quarter of the nation’s total production.

The U.S. Energy Administration (USEA) has a chart showing the Number and Capacity of Petroleum Refineries. According to the USEA here are the operable barrels per calendar day (BCD) by year:

  • 2016 – 18,317,036 BCD
  • 2017 – 18,617,027 BCD
  • 2018 – 18,598,497 BCD
  • 2019 – 18,802,435 BCD
  • 2020 – 18,976,085 BCD
  • 2021 – 18,127,700 BCD

Note that under President Donald J. Trump the production of barrels per day increased during his term by 658,049 BCD. Also note that since the inauguration of Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. the BCD has dropped 848,385 BCD in just the first year.

Less production, higher prices.

The Bottom Line

Biden has blamed everyone and everything but himself for the highest average price of gasoline in our history.

What we can say is that our American refineries are handling significantly lower numbers of barrels per calendar day since Biden entered the White House.

Why? Because America is producing fewer barrels per calendar day of oil.

The Epoch Times’ reporter Jack Phillips on Tuesday, June 14, 2022 wrote:

Chevron CEO Mike Wirth said in a recent interview that he does not believe another oil refinery will be built again in the United States, saying that government policies are a key reason why, as average gas prices continue to rise as of Tuesday.

One hundred and twenty-one fewer refineries since 1982, dropping production of barrels of oil per day since Biden took office and no more new oil refineries due to government policies are in fact the “key reasons” why we have the highest gas prices ever in the U.S.

It’s the oil refineries stupid!

We report, you decide who is at fault.

©Dr. Rich Swier. All rights reserved.

EDITORS NOTE: Add to this the warning that the American electrical grid will almost certainly die… from natural causes. In a Center for Security Policy article titled For the cost of less than 1% of the Biden infrastructure bill we could protect our electric grid from certain collapse Tommy Waller Director of Infrastructure Security wrote:

Most Americans regard the sun as a positive source of energy for the planet – nurturing plant life and powering solar panels to help provide the electricity we need to sustain modern civilization. And while we know that we must be protected from the harmful UV rays the sun produces, which cause injury such as sunburn and skin cancer, most don’t realize that the sun can produce even more powerful effects, damaging infrastructure both in space and on earth.

Unless America takes action to protect against the hazard of solar weather, it is nearly certain that we will suffer a catastrophic loss of our electric grid sometime in the future. The Center for Security Policy’s Director of Infrastructure Security Tommy Waller recently testified before the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board (SEAB) to explain why, and what must be done about it.

Watch the June 2022 Secretary of Energy Advisory Board meeting to understand.

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