One of the societal byproducts of the COVID-19 pandemic has been an increased emphasis on technology to meet changing needs, and the fuel and petrochemical industries are no exception to that trend.
The cost of Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) compliance credits, specifically D6 renewable identification numbers (RINs), is out of control. Sales of D6 RINs for conventional ethanol recently registered above $1.90 (the highest trades in history).
Refineries are not the story when it comes to retail gasoline prices. Raw materials (in this case crude oil) account for the biggest share of the final price consumers pay.
Last week the Energy Information Administration (EIA) released its latest alternative energy update. Wind and solar power continue to lead this energy mix.
Although President Obama’s controversial Clean Power Plan (CPP) has been debated at length for several months, its legal failings finally came under the microscope during oral argument in W Virginia et al. v EPA et al. in the DC Circuit Court of Appeals on September 27.
Beyond digitization (converting analog information to digital) and digitalization (the technology-driven shift to business processes) lies digital transformation.
Right now, members of Congress are debating a series of taxes as part of the multi-trillion-dollar reconciliation package that could make the crude oil that runs through U.S. refineries more expensive.
COVID-19 upended energy markets. Demand disappeared and producers scaled back. Now that economies are reopening, and the demand for goods and services is rebounding, the demand for energy all along the supply chain is increasing, driving up not only the cost of the feedstocks and fuels refineries and petrochemical manufacturers use, but also the cost of the energy used at every step of the supply chain.