It’s been two and a half years since Congress granted the Department of Homeland Security’s Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program long-term authorization.
Publicly owned companies, like many U.S. refineries, have a fiduciary responsibility (which is a legal obligation) to act in the best interest of their shareholders, and that extends to how companies spend their earnings. Often, earnings are spent on a combination of the following: direct dividends, stock buy back programs, paying down debt and capital investment projects.