We all know about Big Oil's push to get access to more offshore drilling sites, despite already holding rights to millions of acres both onshore and off where they aren't drilling (much like timber companies sitting on their own timber while cutting our National Forests). Now Bush is going to lift the Executive moratorium on drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf to pressure Congress to capitulate yet again. We've all heard about how a shortage of refining capacity is driving up prices for gasoline.
So why are we exporting all-time record amounts of refined petroleum products??
A record 1.6 million barrels a day in U.S. refined petroleum products were exported during the first four months of this year, up 33 percent from 1.2 million barrels a day over the same period in 2007. Shipments this February topped 1.8 million barrels a day for the first time during any month, according to final numbers from the Energy Department.
Ever feel like you are being played for a sucker??
The 1.6 million barrels a day in record petroleum exports represented 9 percent of total U.S. refining capacity of 17.6 million barrels a day.
However, with refiners operating at 85 percent of capacity during the January-April period, the shipments represented a much a larger share of total U.S. oil products produced.
The exports were also equal to half the 3.2 million barrels of gasoline, diesel fuel and other petroleum products the United States imported each day over the 4-month period.
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