As I write this in the early afternoon of Monday, May 15, I just finished reading the latest bulletin from DHS on WannaCry, the ransomware virus that has become a lead news story since the weekend.
This week, AFPM joined API and industry associations representing fuel retailers, gasoline marketers, convenience stores and tank truck carriers to field questions from the media about the ongoing fuel distribution challenges resulting from the Colonial Pipeline shutdown.
AFPM President and CEO Chet Thompson and API President and CEO Mike Sommers sent a letter to President Biden responding to recent letters the Administration sent to major U.S. fuel refiners suggesting that these companies, their workforces and facilities throughout the country aren’t doing their part to bring fuel to the market and lower energy costs for consumers.
We are surprised and disappointed by the President’s letter. Any suggestion that U.S. refiners are not doing our part to bring stability to the market is false. We would encourage the Administration to look inward to better understand the role their policies and hostile rhetoric have played in the current environment.
In late July, Congress allowed a valuable program that enhances security at chemical facilities across the country to expire. The program is called the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS), and its primary mission is to protect chemical facilities from potential terror threats by addressing a wide range of possible vulnerabilities, including cyberattacks.
In a tight refined product market it has been U.S. refiners that have stepped up. Our industry ran full-out for most of 2022 making sure American consumers, our domestic economic centers and our allies had enough gasoline, diesel and jet fuel to keep everyone moving. Our refining sector leads the world in liquid fuel production and is effectively doing more than any other to bring better balance to the global market.
Though it is largely unseen, cybersecurity permeates most, if not all, aspects of fuel and petrochemical manufacturing, ensuring our industries can function efficiently and without disruption.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) supports President Trump’s Executive Orders that will create clear pathways for the permitting process and support energy infrastructure development.
