"...we don't have NEAR enough refineries because of the ongoing conspiracy between the oil companies..."
Sorry, but that just ain't so.
The last newly-built refinery inthe U.S. came on line in about 1976-ish. It takes some three years to build one.
When you look at the legal hoops a would-be refiner has to go through to get past the environmental-law permitting process, you learn that the only thing worse is a nuke plant. You'll notice we haven't built many of those, lately, either...
The refinery folks, not being stoopid, built refineries outside the U.S. Since the mid-'70s, we've been importing refined products as well as crude.
And guess what? The rest of the world has been industrializing. That means they want more crude and more refined product.
In the mid-1970s, there was a line of tankers, one every eight miles, from the Persian Gulf to Japan. I dunno what it is now, what with China's imports getting right up there with Japan, plus there is the Indian demand. Worldwide, refineries are running at a near-capacity condition. While overseas refineries are most likely being expanded, it still takes time. China's growth in demand is rather sudden, and caught most folks by surprise. You don't just casually stick a billion bucks into a refinery on the off chance something good will happen.
As far as pump prices in the U.S., it's the usual Economics 101. Supply limited and demand fairly constant, the price goes up. Drop the demand and the price will decline, which is beginning to happen. No different from what we saw back in the middle- and late-1970s.
"It''s deja vu all over again."
Art
