Over 2021, several refinery complexes saw workforce lay-offs - some as high as 60%. Denton Cinquegrana, chief oil analyst with the Maryland-based Oil Price Information Service, wouldnt rule that out, but he cautioned that fuel prices tend to be unpredictable. 2008-2023 - Shore News Media & Marketing Ltd. Co. All rights reserved. Diesel fuel supplies have hit all-time lows on the East Coast and gasoline prices have soared to multiple records in recent weeks. Major refinery operators have largely opted to upgrade facilities rather than construct new greenfield plants because of the projected fuel demand decline in coming years and lengthy regulatory . The refinery processes 268,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil and produces 92,600 bpd of diesel fuel, 89,000 bpd of gasoline and 44,500 bpd of jet fuel. Phillips 66 announced in November 2021 that it would not reopen the Alliance refinery, which was shut in mid-August ahead of Hurricane Ida. Some refiners threw in the towel. Learn how your comment data is processed. The long term aim is for the company to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. LyondellBasell plans to shut down its Houston refinery at the end of 2023, impacting 550 jobs. Thus, the President whose administration has been actively trying to limit the domestic oil industrys ability to get its business done is now so desperate to shift blame for high gasoline prices that he resorts to the pretense of being disappointed that that has been happening. When the pandemic hit and demand for oil evaporated during the recession, refineries took a big financial hit when the price of gasoline plummeted. LyondellBasell previously announced it will cease operations of the Houston Refinery no later than December 31, 2023. US President Joe Biden departs Marine One after, arriving in Washington, D.C., US, on Tuesday, June 14, 2022. The Biden administration envisions a future where the world is powered by clean energy rather than oil with its destructive effect on the environment. US governments accomplished this through various methods, including increasingly restrictive environmental regulations. In Louisiana, another refinery was wiped out by Hurricane Ida. Its hard to get a grip on what prices will do, he said. While gasoline prices continue to be a troubling political factor for the Biden Administration, the recent inclement weather in refinery country on the U.S. Gulf Coast has caused two major refineries to shut down. Given the highly-ideological nature of this administration and the fact that most of APIs suggestions would conflict with Bidens Green New Deal-based agenda, most if not all of them are likely to fall on deaf ears. Vous pouvez modifier vos choix tout moment en consultant vos paramtres de vie prive. While the Biden administration says market manipulation by Big Oil is behind the shortage of refined fuel right now, the . On Thursday, the. The refinery became unprofitable as COVID-19 spread across the United States. Refining capacity in the U.S. is about a million barrels a day below what it was prior to the pandemic. Prices skyrocketed in February when Russia invaded Ukraine, an action that had resounding impact on the global supply of crude oil, which itself directly affects gas prices. Refinery maintenance along the West Coast is being blamed for the sudden spike in the cost of gas across California after weeks of downward trending prices. Shell announced in November 2020 it would be shuttering the refinery after attempts to sell the plant between July and October were unsuccessful. The president earlier this month singled out ExxonMobil, saying the company "made more money than God this year.". Gasoline prices were also spiking on Monday, with the nations average up 8 cents from a week ago and 12.3 cents a month ago at $3.42 per gallon, according to Gas Buddy. Get access to more than a decade of story archives. They said the numbers just didn't work, and closed up shop. There was already some contraction happening in the industry as a result of projected declines in U.S. gasoline demand into the future and companies just deciding that the assets were better used as other projects or shut down completely, he continued. The industrial landscape for oil refineries has been challenging of late, with the Covid-19 pandemic, It would be a fairly simple task to produce predictions about the future of geothermal, Every day seems to bring news of another extreme weather event which might almost have. Well, it turns out a lot of people need refined products," says Blanch. The Houston, Texas, facility which is operated by LyondellBasell Industries, spans 700 acres and was built in 1918 is . The report predicted companies such as Chevron CVX.N, Royal Dutch Shell RDSa.L, France' Total TOTF.PA and China's largest refiner Sinopec could see profits from refining drop by 70%, a prediction based on commitments to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius, under which, according to the International Energy Agency, the demand for oil would drop by 23% between 2020 and 2035. By Daily Report Staff (iStock) Even as oil and gas companies' profits soar, refineries across the country. Three of the refineries in question were run by the largest US refiner of crude oil, Marathon Petroleum, while one was run by Shell and the other by independent HollyFrontier, illustrating the fact that this is an issue which cuts across operators and impacts the industry as a whole. The result was that five refineries across the US shut down permanently. The most comprehensive solution to manage all your complex and ever-expanding tax and compliance needs. Prices have edged down by a few cents in recent days, but remain elevated. Why are refineries closing amid oil price windfall? A Philadelphia refinery, one of the largest in the country, was rocked by explosions a few months before the pandemic. The company determined that exiting the refining business, by the end of next year, is the best strategic and financial path forward, the company added in its statement to TheDCNF. Total gasoline inventories in the United States have been slowly building over the last few weeks, ending at 250 million barrels as of January 28, before the storm. This would be the latest step in wider moves to shift the company as a whole onto a more environmentally sustainable footing, with two other refineries in Italy already having undergone a similar conversion. Refineries Shutting Down. Given that the recent COP26 committed governments around the world to measures which would hit targets at or around 2 degrees Celsius depending upon interpretations of the various conditional and unconditional commitments the direction of travel identified in 2017 has clearly remained the same and has, if anything, accelerated. They're operating above 90% capacity according to the Energy Information Administration, and expected to run at 95% for the rest of the summer. Fire broke out in the early morning that triggered a vat of butane to ignite with an explosion so large that it was detected from space. So who cares about refined products? By Mike Lee | 06/16/2022 07:17 AM EDT The national average price of gasoline surpassed $5 a gallon for the first time ever this month. Education: BA, Marquette University. More than 1 million barrels a day of the country's oil refining capacity or about 5% overall has shut since the beginning of the pandemic. The refinery processes 268,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil and produces 92,600 . I filled up because I dont know if its going to get cheaper anytime soon. (LogOut/ The industrial landscape for oil refineries has been challenging of late, with the Covid-19 pandemic triggering a massive slump in demand for oil which resulted in many refineries across the world having to temporarily shut down. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. No profanity, hate speech or personal attacks. hide caption, SALT LAKE CITY, UT - MAY 24: A driver unloads raw crude oil from his tanker to process into gas at Marathon Refinery on May 24, 2022 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Get access to our searchable data center of TOP LISTS. U.S. refiners throttle back Q1 output after record 2022 runs By Erwin Seba . September 26, 2022 Refinery maintenance along the West Coast is being blamed for the sudden spike in the cost of gas across California after weeks of downward trending prices. Individuals should consider whether they can afford the risks associated to trading. According to Gas Buddy, the online monitor that tracks fuel prices by community, Santa Rosas lowest-priced gas is being sold at the 7-Eleven on College Avenue, where regular unleaded was $5.29 per gallon, as of Monday. So, as was the case throughout the 1970s, the industry and consumers are left to wait to see what disastrous and ineffective action to control the market this President and his inept team might take next. Daily Caller News Foundation June 7, 2022. PATRICK DE HAAN: There's been a tremendous challenge with the refineries being able to meet demand that has resurged as the economy continues to gain momentum post-COVID. At a time when gas prices are at the highest level in history, hurting regular Americans, he points out that Big Oil companies are enjoying record profits. But the continued decline in domestic refinery capacity could signal long-term domestic fuel supply shortfall, Reuters reported. In one particularly unusual move, India's Reliance Industries said it would simply sell the crude oil that it had in transit at sea, rather than allowing the cargo to arrive at its refineries. With prices for your products where they are today, you have ample market incentive to take these actions, Biden writes, and I recognize that some of you have already begun to do so. Bidens own Energy Information Administration reported last week that the industry was working at a very high utilization rate of over 94%. Since it opened, more than half the refineries in the U.S. have closed. Just last Friday, in its response to Bidens intemperate attack during a speech at the Port of Los Angeles, ExxonMobil noted that it is in the process of expanding its own refining capacity in the U.S. by 250,000 bopd. Neste, having ceased refining operations at the Naantali refinery in Finland, announced plans to develop the Porvoo refinery in their own words - "towards co-processing renewable and circular raw materials.". Has Saudi Arabias Relationship With Russia Reached Its Limits? The bottom line here is that this is a problem that has been a long time coming. You can reach Staff Writer Colin Atagi at colin.atagi@pressdemocrat.com. Meanwhile Chevron reported its highest quarterly profit in nearly a decade, while Shell posted its highest earnings ever. var write_html = `