Staying with refineries, the need for pipelines is more pronounced in the Gulf coast. The refineries in the Gulf coast contribute about 45 percent of the refining capacity, and 30 percent total crude oil production in the US. Of late, the imports have declined in the Gulf coast, thanks to drilling in the Eagle Ford Shale in Texas and Bakken shale in ND. Unsurprisingly, import of the more expensive light sweet Nigerian crude stood at 150,000 b/d in January, the lowest since 1996. (For the corresponding period, there's decline in the import of Nigerian crude to the East coast too.) Yet, imagine the figure with more pipelines in the region. Yes, the crude from Eagle Ford from Texas has started to arrive in the Gulf coast. However, the crude is sweet light. Most of the refineries in the Gulf Coast are more sophisticated, designed to process heavy and more sour crude. As investment to refine the lighter sweet crude is expensive, the only option for the refineries is to blend the different crudes. The irony.
Meanwhile, woes of the refineries in the East coast continue. Two have already closed, and the rest of them are barely managing to scrap through. These refineries are dependent on imported crude as they don't have easier access to cheaper West Texas Intermediate crude. Hence, they continue to import the expensive Brent crude. There are plans to transport oil from North Dakota to the East coast by rail, but when?
Although a continuation of the import story, the scene is slightly different in the Midwest. The refineries here are enjoying higher profits, credit to generous supplies from Canada and domestic oil. Imports from Canada reached 1.76 million barrels a day in the first quarter of 2012, an increase of almost 22 percent from last year (Source: EIA). Unsurprisingly, Canada is the largest supplier of crude to the US followed by Saudi Arabia.
Recently the Port Arthur refinery underwent expansion to almost double its daily capacity. So, why do refineries expand rather than build new ones? It's easier because of the environmental regulations. The apparent lack of logic in not having refineries does get answered when you take the environment under consideration. Refineries gobble up water, not to mention vast tracts of land, and contribute loads of CO2 to the air, as well. So, environmental regulation tends to be hard for anyone interested in refineries. The EPA regulations are also strict on the sulfur content Light crude is easier to process, has lower sulfur content so it's easier to get the environmental nod. Heavy sour crude, on the other side, has more sulfur and is more difficult to process. Sunoco Inc. is said to have lost $ 1 billion in the last three years, attempting to upgrade in accordance with the stricter EPA regulation.
Will the picture change? Everyone wants refineries, just is someone else's backyard. The new EPA regulation for new refineries scheduled to be released this November has been deferred because of the Presidential elections. How is it going to pan out? Mitt Romney is all for more drilling. He wants to drill "virtually every part of U.S. lands and waters" but is silent on his take on refineries. For his part, Obama is for 'energy independence' but with his strict environmental laws, no refinery is going to come up anytime soon. The situation is precarious. The demand isn't expected to rise anytime soon. EIA has lowered the forecast of oil consumption in 2012 and 2013.
Any destruction due to accidents (like the recent fires), weather conditions, and maintenance would affect the supply with immediate effect. For instance, the recent fire in the Chevron refinery at Richmond, California disrupted almost 16% of the supply in the region. Abundant reserves, yet prone to import fluctuations- which country would want to continue in this position?
If the refineries aren't taken care of, the dream of cheaper crude would continue to be a dream. That would be sad with the present domestic resources.