Posted on 09/21/2005 9:08:41 AM PDT by jmc1969
SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - Valero Energy Corp. (VLO.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Chairman and Chief Executive Bill Greehey said Hurricane Rita's impact on U.S. crude oil production and refining could be a "national disaster."
"If it hits the refineries, and we're short refining capacity, you're going to see gasoline prices well over $3.00 a gallon at the pump," Greehey said in a Tuesday night interview.
Valero became the largest U.S. refiner earlier this year when it completed the purchase of Premcor Inc. Valero operates refineries in Port Arthur, Houston, Texas City and Corpus Christi, Texas -- all potentially in the path of Hurricane Rita.
"It's going to be coming across the (U.S.) Gulf (of Mexico)," Greehey said. "There's a lot of oil platforms, oil rigs, (natural) gas platforms, gas rigs. It could have a significant impact on supply and prices, and then, depending on what it does to the refineries, there are still four refineries that are shut down. So this really is a national disaster."
Refineries in Houston and Texas City process 2.3 million barrels of crude oil or 13.5 percent of daily U.S. refining capacity. The Beaumont-Port Arthur, Texas, refineries account for another 1.1 million barrels in refining capacity.
(Excerpt) Read more at today.reuters.com ...
Spot-On!
The bastards.
Even Katrina did not do that much damage.
If the oil companies use this to jack up prices, it will have a good effect in that it will help stop panic at the pump, but let's face it, it will be profiteering and frankly, despicable at the end of the day.
2.40 here. You got it bad.
Yep. What is bugging me is not so much the pump prices, but the crude prices, which are being driven not by fundamentals, but by hysteria and rumor.
Gas is cheaper here now than before Rita, ironically.
It did go to about 3.30 though before it dropped.
Would you please not rattle Laz to much more? He wandered into the avian flu thread today and got one wake up call already. Keep this up and he will buy all the army surplus MRE's before I can! (Of course I will sell them at a reasonable price later on!)
VERY ironic, being as Rita is ongoing....;^)
Wouldn't the CEO of a publicly traded company making speculative statements about the future price of his company's product run afoul of SEC rules or federal law?
I'm sure he meant before hurricane Katrina Van Dehueval.
lol......uh yeah, I meant Katrina.
That depends on how badly Valero's refineries are damaged and how long it takes to repair them. They only keep a couple weeks of products in inventory, so if half of their refineries are down for more than a month they will end up losing a lot of money because of the lost production and repair costs. Insurance will probably cover most of their repair costs but the lost production could be very costly.
It's looking like a short-sighted decision to build so many refineries so close to the gulf coast. Although some extra pipelines would be required, it would have been smarter over the long run to build the refineries a hundred miles inland.
As he watches a couple of his billion dollar refineries get ripped the bits?
You can dish all you want on the CEO only if you promise that when the day comes to sell your house, you only ask what you paid for it and not the going market price.
Rip-off?
Market Price bubba.
Capitalism at it's best.
If you don't like it, buy more shoes.
So9
The invisible hand works in the oil industry, as elsewhere. The only threat to free markets is government.
There is no such thing as price gouging. It is a polemical term, just as the Sherman (anti-trust) Act was demagoguery. The FTC and its masters should butt out.
I neither represent the oil industry nor own any energy stocks. I pay 50% more for gasoline than a few months ago, affordable historically, and drive less. So does everyone else, so my competitiveness has not been affected.
The sometimes violent swings of the market may be hard for many to absorb, but they are by far preferable to the long-term stagnation caused by government intervention.
I think some of us are too accepting of the opinions of friends and neighbours who are locked in a socialist mindset.
Think a lot of folks here are forgetting the /sarcasm off???
Can't think they are at all 'series'........
Bird Flu hasn't struck yet ...
I've been seeing that since Katrina.
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