Quote:
Originally Posted by rmay635703
Something interesting is despite recent reductions in the cost to refine taking 2008 as an example our price per barrel is no higher than then but our price per gallon is.
Where does the discrepancy land? Profit and shareholder value.
Our primary “shortage “ right now is strictly in refining capacity which is a manufactured crisis, oil companies have been allowing refineries to go black with no plan to repair or modernize.
They have floated bailouts despite the fact record profits could be used to repair.
BP has had the let it break and pay a fine mentality for decades and has had many complaints from its employees about not repairing broken infrastructure, that tendency is paying dividends right now
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US refineries are going black or getting converted to chemical plants because oil companies believe US gasoline consumption has peaked. No reason to spend billions of CapEx on equipment that lasts decades if you expect demand for your product has peaked or will shortly.
https://www.spglobal.com/commodityin...eps-rising-eia
EDIT:
Chart of US gasoline use. We have been pretty flat for almost 15 years after steady growth prior to the mid-00's. Gasoline usage still has not returned to 2019 levels and likely won't if work-from-home and hybrid work becomes a permanent thing. Even without a switch to EVs steadily increasing fuel economy standards mean gas consumption will hold steady or fall even as population increases.
Data here:
https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/Le...s=wgfupus2&f=4