The Institute for Energy Research (IER) analyzed the condition of refining and concluded that most closed refining units will stay closed.
“About 375,000 barrels per day of the 1.482 million barrels per day of North American refining capacity shuttered since June 2019 may be eligible for restart. President Biden could make it easier for these plants to retool if he genuinely wanted them back online, but he has taken no positive action to back up his repeated calls for more refining. Refinery owners will not make the huge investments necessary if they cannot recoup their investment, which is likely to take years.”
And:
“There are few options to improve refinery capacity since it takes years to permit and expand existing facilities and the trend in the industry has been to shut down or convert to renewable diesel which receives large subsidies and higher profits. No completely new refineries have been built since 1977, and in fact, the EPA under Biden has begun to question routine renewals of existing refinery permits.”
Image by jpenrose from Pixabay.