During a recent visit to Iowa — smack in the middle of corn country — the President announced a policy change that would direct the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to waive Clean Air Act rules and permit the year-round sale of E15 (gasoline with 15-percent ethanol).
Some policymakers are rumored to be considering a ban on crude oil and/or U.S. refined product exports. This would be a mistake. Ending U.S. crude oil or refined product exports won’t help U.S. consumers by lowering prices at pump. In fact, it could make things even worse. Let’s take a closer look at how a refined product export ban would affect gasoline and diesel supplies and, thus, prices in the United States and around the world.
Refinery utilization, measures how much crude oil refineries are processing or “running” as a percentage of their maximum capacity. It tells us roughly how much of our refining muscle is being put to work manufacturing fuel. American refineries are running full-out, at about 95% of total capacity, contributing more fuel—gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, etc.—to the global market than any other country. In fact, U.S. refineries process more crude oil every day than the United States produces, and we make more finished fuels than the United States consumes.
The return of fuel demand to pre-pandemic levels and the slower rebound of crude oil and fuel production has created concerns about whether supplies of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel will be sufficient to meet global demand. U.S. refineries are up and running at near maximum utilization. Other major refining countries, for a variety of reasons, have not kept pace bringing their facilities back into operation or resuming sales of fuel to the market. As a result, wholesale fuel prices have increased and so have refinery “crack spreads."
The United States has the most complex and efficient refining industry in the world, but we also have less refining capacity than we used to. Where the issue of refining capacity is concerned, it’s important to understand what refining capacity is, why we’ve lost capacity in the United States and how policies can advance the competitiveness of our refineries in the global market.
All eyes are on Hurricane Ian, which is expected to approach Florida’s west coast later Wednesday and into Thursday bringing high winds and massive amounts of rain. Although our nation’s refiners and petrochemical manufacturers do not have facilities in the affected region, we’d like to urge the people in the area to prepare for the storm and heed all evacuation notices. Florida residents can get critical preparedness and evacuation information here .
A diversity of consumer groups, environmental organizations, food producers and engine manufacturers joined AFPM in voicing their opposition to the unsustainable ethanol mandates released by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for 2019.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Following the release of the 2018 Renewable Volume Obligations (RVOs) for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), AFPM President and CEO Chet Thompson released the following statement
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Statement from Chet Thompson, President and CEO of the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM), in response to the letter sent by 21 senators to Acting Administrator Wheeler of the Environmental Protection Agency.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Statement from Chet Thompson, President and CEO of American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, in response to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) release of the 2018 Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) Renewable Volume Obligations (RVOs).