🚀 go-pugleaf

Don Homuth wrote:
> On Thu, 07 Jun 2007 18:31:38 GMT, trijicon <dev@null.set> wrote:
> 
>> Don Homuth wrote:
>>
>>> Nevertheless, how're you doing with the >$3/gal gas in the meantime?
>>>
>>> That's the new price point.  Folks are pretty much used to it now.
>> So you're going to complain to OPEC??!?
> 
> Nah -- the awlbidniss folks are once again reducing refinery capacity
> to deal with this unfortunate price drop, so it seems.
> 
> http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/06/04/ap3786556.html
> 
> ...There have been large, well-publicized increases in refined
> gasoline and other petroleum product prices in April and May. (In
> April, regular gasoline prices rose 11 percent at the pump and a
> further 10.6 percent in May, according to the Energy Information
> Administration. Prices at the refinery gate aren't available, but EIA
> estimates that 78 percent of the price at the pump reflects the cost
> of crude and refining, exclusive of taxes, distribution costs and
> profits.)
> 
> One likely explanation for the decline in the value of shipments from
> refineries in April is that output volumes declined. That explanation
> looks more plausible when it's recognized there were three new
> refinery shutdowns in Indiana, Texas and Oklahoma in April.....


Oh NO!

They had to do some maintenance?!?!?

WTF is up with those guys, why not just run 'em till the melt down!

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/05/24/business/NA-FIN-MKT-Oil-Prices.php

No one wants refineries to go down, but the lack of any new refineries 
is the story."

The refinery outages � at Valero Energy Corp.'s McKee refinery in 
Sunray, Texas and ConocoPhillips' Alliance oil refinery in Belle Chasse, 
Louisiana � followed the government's Wednesday report that showed a 
rebound in gasoline inventories and refinery utilization. The news was 
positive, but not enough to dampen prices.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aSfFzU1tl2HE&refer=home

Refinery Problems

ConocoPhillips, the second-largest U.S. refiner, said yesterday it would 
halt a catalytic cracking unit and a boiler at its 146,000-barrel-a-day 
plant in Borger, Texas, for maintenance.

BP Plc will shut a 115,000-barrel-a-day gasoline unit at its Texas City 
plant for 11 days, Reuters reported, citing a trader it didn't identify.

Murphy Oil Corp. shut a unit at its 125,000-barrel-a-day Meraux refinery 
near New Orleans yesterday for ``minor maintenance.''

U.S. refineries ran at 89.5 percent of capacity last week, the Energy 
Department reported May 16. That is less than the 94 percent they 
reached in the same week in 2005, before Katrina and Rita hit the Gulf.

``People are very worried about a stoppage of gasoline supplies,'' said 
Tetsu Emori, the chief commodities strategist at Mitsui Bussan Futures 
Ltd. in Tokyo. ``The Nigerian issues are a big factor in the market, 
especially for Brent crude.''


> http://online.barrons.com/google_login.html?url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.barrons.com%2Farticle%2FSB118015895763115689.html%3Fmod%3Dgooglenews_barrons
> 
> ...Last month, at least four U.S.-based oil refineries unexpectedly
> had major operational problems. 

The nerve of them guys!

How dare they EVER have maintenance done!