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Gas prices could climb well above their current near-record levels to “apocalyptic” heights if hurricane season results in significant disruptions for US oil refiners ... efforts to lower prices could be “overwhelmed if we have an active tropical season” that impacts domestic refining efforts in the Gulf of Mexico, OPIS energy analysis global head Tom Kloza ... insidious for inflation are the values for diesel and jet fuel. Stocks of those fuels are not building, they’re tight internationally and that’s where we’re going to have to pay the piper in the last 100 days of the year.” Hurricanes in the...

Over the past week, we first noted that amid broad economic sanctions, there were numerous Russian gold refiners on the LBMA’s “Good Delivery” list, and subsequently we said that this “begged the question as to what would the LBMA do about the large number of Russian gold refineries on the LBMA Good Delivery Lists, refiners which are embedded with the Russian banks in the Russian gold market.”The question was answered today, when the LBMA – London’s gold market – suspended all Russian refineries from its accredited list, meaning their newly minted bars can no longer trade in one of the...

The Trump administration seems to be leaning towards allying with the oil refining industry in its fight against Big Corn and federal rules requiring the use of corn ethanol. Reuters reports that the U.S. EPA apparently granted an exemption to Andeavor, a large oil refiner, from having to comply with blending requirements as part of the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) last month. The RFS requires refiners to blend biofuels, such as corn ethanol, into their refined fuels. If they can’t or find it too costly, they are required to purchase credits. The law dates back to 2007 under the George...

President Donald Trump will meet with a group of Republican lawmakers Thursday to discuss ways of addressing problems oil refiners have with the EPA’s biofuels mandate. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is among nearly a dozen Republican lawmakers prepared to confront Trump over his administration’s refusal to ratchet down the biofuel standard. They want to find a way to lessen the impact the standards have on oil refiners. “President Trump will meet with senators today to discuss his commitment to the Renewable Fuel Standard and how to effectively address the program’s impact on independent refiners,” White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said...

GasBuddy.com says fuel prices could spike within a week anywhere from 10 to 30 cents a gallon, and they could stay higher for several weeks. Its analysts are blaming aging refineries for unplanned repairs. When those happen, often the oil companies will tackle maintenance issues, too.

America’s petroleum refiners manufacture safe, proven and reliable high-quality fuels and other products in an environmentally responsible manner to keep America moving, our economy growing, our citizens employed and our nation secure. But refiners are being squeezed by costly government overregulation, foreign competition, high oil prices and reduced fuel demand. A recent report by the Department of Energy found the compounded burden of federal regulations was a significant factor in the closing of 66 oil refineries in the United States in the past 20 years, wiping out thousands of jobs. Two money-losing refineries in the Philadelphia area are threatened with...

William Klesse, chief executive of oil refiner Valero Energy, is riled up. "I think cap-and-trade is ludicrous," he says. "The whole bill is a hidden tax." The so-called climate bill wending its way through the Senate aims to create a cap-and-trade regime covering emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. If it passes in anything close to its current form, the bill would milk more carbon cash (payments to the government for the right to pollute) out of refiners than any other industry--somewhere between $30 billion and $110 billion a year. Valero, as America's biggest refiner (2.4 million barrels...

Energy: We balk at importing "dirty" oil from Canada, but others aren't so reluctant. Exempt as a "developing" nation from Kyoto-like agreements, China has decided to help Canada develop its energy-rich oil sands.The Financial Post reports that PetroChina International Investment Co. has struck a deal to buy a 60% interest in Athabasca Oil Sands Corp.'s McKay River and Dover projects for $1.9 billion. China has been establishing energy beachheads around the world in its quest to keep its growing economy fueled. With possible conflict brewing between Israel and Iran, Beijing recognizes the need for reliable suppliers like Canada in an...

The Waxman-Markey bill is making just about every segment of the oil and natural-gas industry unhappy. Oil refiners would be hit, because they would likely be among the largest buyers of emissions allowances. In addition to covering their own emissions, the refineries that turn crude oil into gasoline, diesel and other fuels will be responsible for the carbon emissions from transportation. That puts the industry on the hook for some 44% of U.S. carbon emissions, according to the American Petroleum Institute, but it would receive just 2% of the emissions allowances available under the bill. Refiners would have to buy...

CALGARY -- With oil prices currently sky-high, it's a great time to be in the energy business - unless you own a refinery. The record oil prices that are pushing up producers' profits are also dampening demand for petroleum products, creating a glut of North American gasoline reflected by five-year inventory highs. And while gasoline prices have soared to well over $1.20 a litre in Canada, the surplus stocks mean they haven't kept up with the soaring price of crude oil. As a result, the "crack spread" - the difference between the price of crude and the products refined from...

NEW YORK — Retail gas prices surged to another milestone, rising above $3.30 a gallon Friday, and appear poised to rise further in coming weeks as supplies tighten. Oil prices, meanwhile, supported the gas price rally by jumping more than $2 a barrel after a dismal employment report sent the dollar lower. At the pump, gas prices rose 1.4 cents overnight to a national average of $3.303 a gallon, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. That's the latest in a series of records, and about 60 cents higher than a year ago. In Ventura County, the average...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. refiners may be forced to deepen gasoline production cuts at a time of year they normally maximize output as bulging stockpiles, lackluster demand and record-high oil prices carve into profit margins. The outlook for lower fuel production comes even as retail prices climb to new peaks heading into summer vacation season -- a factor that could lead some refiners to remain discreet about cuts to avoid a political backlash, analysts said. "If everybody cuts too much and then all of a sudden we have some tightness ahead of Memorial Day, then you'll have a lot...

Gasoline prices are likely to continue rising, and it's not just because crude oil prices have risen above $75 a barrel. Oil refineries, which usually buy their oil at a price below that headline price, have seen their discounts virtually disappear. So the price they pay for oil is up twice -- once because the headline price of oil is higher and a second time because their discounts have just about vanished. You can bet that those two price increases will be passed along to anyone filling up at the gas pump. Very little oil actually trades at the number...

Refiners' Tough Call: Do Fall Maintenance Or Pump Flat-Out? By THADDEUS HERRICK Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL September 28, 2005 With profit margins soaring and political pressure building to increase gasoline output, the nation's refiners face a dilemma as their fall maintenance season nears. Going ahead with the maintenance schedule would mean shutting down refinery production, adding to the shortfalls caused by hurricanes Rita and Katrina, and keeping gasoline supplies tight and prices high. But postponing maintenance, needed to keep their refineries in top running condition, could increase the chance of accidents, potentially disrupting even more production. For...

Refiners riding high on gas pricesBy Lisa Sanders, CBS.MarketWatch.com Last Update: 3:11 PM ET March 28, 2004 DALLAS (CBS.MW) - The record prices that have clobbered consumers at the gas pump have refiners bullish on the future.Part of the reason prices have skyrocketed is because demand is much higher than what can U.S. plants can refine, the Houston Chronicle reported Sunday. Another reason is that refiners don't have enough incentives to expend capital on expansion, despite the high profits gasoline prices will bring.Gasoline prices could be as much as 25 cents more per gallon on average this summer compared to...

(SACRAMENTO) – Attorney General Bill Lockyer today unveiled data that show California oil refiners' price markup between the barrel and gas pump increased 152 percent from January 2003 to March 2003 – with virtually all of the rise representing profit – and in March 2003 outstripped the margin in the rest of the country by 127 percent. "Californians have been afflicted with chronically exorbitant gas prices," said Lockyer. "These numbers raise legitimate questions about whether this state's drivers and businesses are getting gouged. But the data also show how important it is, for consumers' sake, that policymakers address the deep-seated...