Refinery Stations

First of all, i have hardly any real knowledge on this. I've heard that we don't have enough refinery stations thats why our gasoline is more expensive. Now that the hurricane has caused the hike in gas prices i have a few thoughts:

1) The refinery stations are basically around the destruction zone? Is this true? WTF? Why would a country like the U.S.A. have it's already limited refinery stations at a spot that is BELOW sea level?!?

2) Shouldn't there be a secondary spot where ships with crude oil could go to? I understand that we don't have multiple refinery stations because of the 'harmful' effects that cause the "green house" gases, (which there is NO evidence of) but shouldn't we have one built and ready? If the other refinery is destroyed by a terrorist attack or a HURRICANE, shouldn't we have a back up plan? I mean it's ONLY oil, the very black fuel that makes the world work.

There are lots of refineries all across the US. The crude is brought in by ship, that means its going to be processed in coastal and port cities, like NY and NO. Also, people outside of the cities don't want refineries anywhere near them. And people don't want to build new refineries, because they are unpleasant. *shrugs*

There are lots of refineries but not nearly enough to meet the exploding demand. It is creating a bottleneck within the oil process. The sad part is thatt we have enough oil right now to supply this demand, just not enough refineries or the refining process isn't the best. I do not know. And then you throw in a Natural Disaster. It creates a big mess.

I remember reading somewhere that refineries were shut down in the 80s due to excess capacity and unprofitability. I also remember reading that it would be a colossal effort to get them back online as they were effectively "left to die."

I don't have a link but I think it's somewhere related to peak oil. It may not have been this site either.

Not all of Lousianna is below sea level. There are refineries in the northern part of the state and there are some in northern Mississippi. Of course, if the pipelines that supply them with crude oil are without power or severed then you have a whole other issue.

Nygdan's "not in my backyard" reference is very much to the point here.

US refineries, as you can see, are not concentrated around New Orleans.

www.eia.doe.gov...

Additionally, here is a pretty good overall damage assessment available in the media.

www.washingtonpost.com...

Its also notable that the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port was not significantly damaged and has returned to limited operation.

About 20 oil rigs have been lost, out of nearly 5,000. Some will certainly need varying degrees of repair. Of the nine major refineries shut, three or four are reporting light damage and plan to become operational within a matter of days to a couple of weeks. The three major pipelines out of LA have begun functioning again in a limited capacity. As the highest priced market in the world right now, we can also expect an influx of imported crude and refined oil products in the coming days and weeks, which will put downward pressure on prices. We got hit pretty hard, but all in all, it appears that its not nearly as bad and as dire as it could have been.

The result of all of this, I think, will be an emergency refining system complimenting the SPR, something that should have been done a long time ago. We'll probably also see one or two new major refineries built by the oil industry, as regulations, rules and red tape regarding refinery construction will likely be relaxed. There will be a push for nuclear plants to replace coal, oil and natural gas fired units. Coal gasification and liquifaction are going to get a lot of attention. Oil shale may as well. In the short term, you can also expect some oil demand destruction due to people trading in the gas guzzlers and driving a little less, but more importantly from a weakening in the world economy and a drop in international trade.

This was the wakeup call for America and I think people are going to have to listen this time.