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.
AFPM President and CEO Chet Thompson issued the following statement in response to President Biden’s State of the Union address: "Using the State of the Union to politicize market fundamentals and single out stock “buy back” programs—while overlooking the fact that the Biden administration’s own policies discourage the reinvestment of earnings back into the U.S. liquid fuel supply chain—cheapens the dialog for everyone."
AFPM issued the following statement on the passage of California legislation that will empower the state’s unelected bureaucracy to impose an effective windfall tax and massive regulatory burden on the state’s remaining refineries. "...Add this legislative cocktail to the list of self-inflicted policy wounds for a state already bleeding people."
AFPM’s online Safety Portal serves as the hub for all Occupational and Process Safety programs. Access to the Safety Portal is available to all member operating companies who have a signed Corporate User Agreement with AFPM.
Our members continuously look for opportunities to enhance safety and recognize that an effective way to improve process safety performance throughout the industry is to learn from one other. Advancing Process Safety is a collection of programs that provide the industry with more frequent and effective opportunities to share experiences and knowledge.
AFPM collects occupational injury and illness data from all regular member refining and petrochemical sites in the U.S. annually. The information collected is from the OSHA 300A Summary Log for both company employees and contractors (contractor aggregate). This data is used to compile the AFPM Survey of Occupational Injuries & Illnesses (I&I Survey). Sites that submit data may be eligible for AFPM Safety Awards.
Oil markets are famously sensitive to uncertainty. Global conflict can send prices higher on concerns that crude oil supplies could be disrupted. This is playing out in response to Russia’s unprovoked acts of war against Ukraine. Russia is a major supplier of crude oil and other energy products globally, though less so in the United States. In recent days, many market participants have committed to stop purchasing Russian oil. Shipping companies are concerned about loading cargoes from Russia and some shippers are finding the cost associated with such cargoes too high. These moves are tightening an already tight market.