East Coast To Suffer Gas Shortage, Higher Prices?

Without a doubt, the cost of gasoline has been going up across the country, and indeed, much of the developed world. Some areas are suffering worse than others though, and a conflux of coincidences may mean that the East Coast will soon suffer a gasoline shortage that could lead to a severe gas price spike. Rut roh.

CNN reports that nearly half of the oil refining capacity on the East Coast has shut down, or will soon be shut down, due to severe financial losses. Sunoco, which owns the Philidelphia-based Marcus Hook refinery as well as another nearby facility, has been losing about $1 million per day in the refining business for the past three years. ConocoPhillips also plans to shutter the Trainer facility, another Philly-based refining plant. If all three facilities shut down, that leaves just 6 oil refineries operating in the Northeast.

The U.S. has not built an oil refinery in over 30 years, and every year brings more closures, often due to dated equipment. Even so, the U.S. is exporting more gasoline now than at any prior time in history thanks to advancements in refining techniques. Yet many of these older facilities simply can’t process the heavy oil slurry coming from places like the Alberta tar sands.

Shipping oil is an expensive process, and with fewer refineries operating nearby, the Northeast could see something of a gas crunch. Most of the refineries that can refine the tar sands oil are located along the Gulf Coast, and it could be a logistical nightmare trying to find enough trucks and barges to move the gasoline that far. The fuel shortage won’t hit until just after the peak driving season, which means that high gas prices may stick around longer than in past years.

This, as I fill up my 88-horsepower 4-cylinder Mustang with 12 gallons of gas at $4.10 a gallon. Frickin’ wonderful.

Source: CNN | Image: Oil Refinery via Shutterstock

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Tags: closure, East Coast, fuel, Marcus Hook, Northeast, oil refinery, Philadelphia, Price Gouging, prices, refinery, shortage, Trainer

About the Author

Christopher DeMorro A writer and gearhead who loves all things automotive, from hybrids to HEMIs, Chris can be found wrenching or writing- or esle, he's running, because he's one of those crazy people who gets enjoyment from running insane distances.

Simone Demorro

I suggest you vote in November for the right guy!
- Grant
  
  Yep, the one that has been supporting alternative energy and EVs so that we can reduce our dependence on oil.
  - Simone DeMorro
    
    @Grant – NOT IN A MILLION YEARS!
Temk

My understanding is that US policies favor established oil refinerys, which had some say in how those laws were written. So it is not surprising to me that no new refineries have been developed in the past 30 years in the US.
IIRC it is difficult to scale new refining technologies for mass production. With any luck, technology will assist our economy in regards to transportation.
http://Cleantechnica Lawrence Landherr

Tar sands kerogen ( it’s more tar than oil) should be left in the ground. It is the dirtiest oil on the planet. We need to develop clean sources of mass transportation (like Europe’s high speed electric powered rail) and more Hybrid vehicles. Put a mega tax on hummers and pigmobile SUVs.. The best oil is the oil not pumped. It’s by far the most economical for the consumer.. FDor all the whining about high gasoline prices by Americans they still pay about one half as much as their European cousins.