A central theme running through the “Better Deal” economic policy agenda that the Democratic Party rolled out this week is the importance of creating—and protecting—good-paying jobs – jobs that will help boost middle-class incomes and create new economic opportunities nationwide.
Negotiations to modernize the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) are a chance to boost the competitiveness of U.S. companies in Canada and Mexico and solidify the preeminent role U.S. refiners and petrochemicals producers play in enabling global transportation and manufacturing.
Governor Gavin Newsom continues to blame fuel refiners for California’s highest-in-the-nation fuel prices. He couldn't be more wrong. The problem and solution to much of California’s fuel price challenge can be found in Sacramento policy. Take a look to better understand the role of policy in regional price differences, why it’s inaccurate to equate “margins” or “refinery cracks” with “profits,” and why windfall profit taxes are a known policy failure.
AFPM opposes the Inflation Reduction Act as written. We evaluated the bill against our core principles, specifically whether the legislation would support strong U.S. refining and petrochemical industries and whether it pursued emissions reductions in a market-based and cost-effective manner. Unfortunately, the IRA falls short of these goals.
The U.S. refining industry is the most competitive in the world, which is a benefit to American households. Our complex facilities are uniquely suited to handle difficult-to-refine crude oil and other petroleum feedstocks that refineries elsewhere cannot process. This creates competitive advantage. At the same time, the United States is able to sell some of our higher-quality crude to countries that need it. This combination is powerful.