> That
> may have dropped to seven if they succeeded in their lawsuit to close
> the Bakersfield refinery.
I've not been following it closely, but last I heard, Shell had been ordered to
sell the refinery to someone who wanted to operate it. They agreed to sell the
refinery proper, but not the storage facility (tank farm) that goes with it. So
the fight was continuing over whether the new refinery owners also got the tank
farm (without which the refinery is pretty much useless).
IMO the whole deal is clearly an attempt by Shell to manipulate the market by
artificially reducing supply. Very reminiscent of the electric companies
shutting down their power plants so they could charge more for electricity.
The other telling factor as far as I'm concerned is that none of the major oil
companies is building new refineries to handle 'sour' crude. Valero did, and is
making lots of money from being able to refine the much cheaper oil (which we
have lots of, right here in the USA). It likely makes no difference whatsoever,
but I buy from Valero when I can.
BTW, my Stag knocked horribly on the Shell midgrade I bought near Rockford.
Dumped in a big bottle of octane improver and still had to be easy with the
throttle to prevent knocking until the tankful was gone. Next time I'll walk
rather than buying Shell !
Randall
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