NPRA Annual Meeting 2006
Changing World Product Markets and Potential Refining Capacity Increases
NPRA Annual Meeting
March 2006
Joanne Shore
John Hackworth
Energy Information Administration
SEvents of the past few years have brought much more attention to refining, culminating with last fall’s hurricane damage to refineries and pipeline deliverability that brought gasoline prices to over $3.00 per gallon.

SWhile refining capacity in the United States has been increasing since 1995 on average by 177 thousand barrels per day, which is the same as adding one new refinery per year, our need for imported gasoline has increased in recent years.

SBut it looks like the tide is turning, and we may see a larger increase in capacity than we have seen for some  time, not only in the United States, but in most other areas of the world as well.