i remember when the EPA told Hovenza on St.Croiz they had to spend $1.4BILLION to upgrade their plant, Hovenza said... 
and closed the plant!
Posted on 06/29/2019 9:14:36 AM PDT by Hojczyk
Almost every US Refinery has expanded capacity and add additional processing over the past 50 years. A number of them are expanding right now. Economy of scale is at work, it is much better for a company to expand an existing Refinery than build a brand new one.
If building a new one, it is not just the cost of the Refinery, which is huge. It is training a new workforce, getting new pipelines and dock facilities established, tank farms and distribution, electrical supply, steam supply. Then there are the availability of contract workforce for turnaround maintenance.
I’ve wondered if this is something else Trump should address, since if my memory serves me correctly, that no new refineries have been built since 1975 (due to government policy).
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Yes, the government should have a special tax on solar and wind energy sources and use those funds to subsidize new refineries and carbon based power generation. These can be called RELIABLE ENERGY TAXES/CREDITS. And I’m not being sarcastic.
>>> In fact, the government had to forgive Philadelphia Energy Solutions some relief on some renewable energy credits they were forced to buy, that the company said helped drive them into bankruptcy in the first place.
Did it help PES on the public relation with Greenies?
No. They are still being viewed as ‘Big Oil’ lumped with “Big Pharma” as public enemy #2 (Trump is #1).
Anyone out there who really understands the refinery business?
How can any firm be “struggling” when no new refineries are being built, an oligopoly controls the US market, in local markets they have near monopolistic power, the barriers to new competitors are extremely high, and they can pass high government regulatory costs completely on to the consumer?
Someone help me understand this please.
*Renewable Energy Credits &
*Renewable Fuel Credits?
If that refinery closes, and the refining margin (or crack spread, the difference between oil costs and value of refined products) rises, it benefits other refineries.
For you stock guys out there, I’m increasing my long-time positions in PSX, VLO, and (newer) MPC. In English, that’s Phillips 66, Valero, and Marathon Petroleum.
How can any firm be “struggling” when no new refineries are being built, an oligopoly controls the US market, in local markets they have near monopolistic power, the barriers to new competitors are extremely high, and they can pass high government regulatory costs completely on to the consumer?
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Refineries are not like your local gas/electric company which CAN pass the costs on to the consumer. If their costs are higher than the market price of their end products they are stuck with a loss.
Some may say: “So what. With all those brand new modern refineries coming on li........... Oh, there AREN’T any new refineries. Well at least we have wind and solar to make up the............. Oh, you CAN’T make plastics from wind by products?”
i remember when the EPA told Hovenza on St.Croiz they had to spend $1.4BILLION to upgrade their plant, Hovenza said... and closed the plant!
belay that, $700,000,000
Ping!
Bring Alberta aboard, all energy needs will be met.
affect
I always get that one wrong.
It's a tricky word.
The way I keep track of the difference is to think of Cause and Effect. The word Affect is always Cause (prime mover), while the word Effect us almost always Effect (end result).
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