While on Twitter yesterday, I ran across a post that linked to a news article. The tweet asked the question, “How the everlovingf**k did this happen????” then went on to state the title of the CNN Business article: Saudi’s gain 100% control of America’s largest oil refinery. If you looked at either the link itself or the top of the article, you could easily see that the article was posted on May 1, 2017.
One response to that post was, “I think this is old news!” followed up by “This is about a corporation selling assets in early 2016 before Trump was even a nominee! I think Trump does crooked things, just don't think this is one of them. #TruthMatters”
I did my best to set that person’s record (and timeline) straight. The sale had been begun in March of 2016, but was finished May 1, 2017 while Trump was well in office. What I didn’t post then, and maybe should have, was why this article/information is still relevant to current news no matter who sits in the White House. I didn’t do it because I thought the explanation needed more space than a Tweet would allow. I figured it required the clarity of a full write up.
Here’s that part of the story:
It’s absolutely true that the article posted was not breaking news, but because of where it was posted (under “Money” business-related news), it was likely that many people might not have seen the article itself or be aware of what it discussed. Many Americans are wholly unaware of how our oil production and trade works. While the events discussed happened between 2016 and 2017, they represent a shift in power for Saudi bargaining with our government, and that makes them currently relevant.
We’re currently living under an administration that has insisted on pushing, not for an investment in alternative energy, but instead for an increase in domestic production of fossil fuels. They’ve pushed for both an increase in domestic drilling and in domestic refining of crude oil from all sources. Currently, Canada (43%) and Saudi Arabia (9%) are our two largest suppliers of crude. Because (like domestic grain) we sell much of our refined oil to other countries, we can’t meet international demand without crude from other places. This EIA site explains where our oil comes from and how much leaves once processed. Without making our country a toxic wasteland, we could never drill enough to become the main supplier of crude oil for the world. We simply don’t have the supply.
The refinery discussed in the article was the Port Arthur refinery. Located in Texas, it’s the largest oil refinery in the United States. Saudi Aramco is the company that took control of that refinery, and has since increased oil production at that site to 600,000 barrels per day. That’s important for current news because Saudi Aramco is the same company whose Saudi oil field and refinery (the largest there) were hit by a drone strike on September 14 of this year, an act that decimated their oil production and nearly pushed the U.S. directly into a war with Iran. Knowing that Saudi Aramco have 100% control over the largest refinery in the U.S. (which our government directly profits from) makes our relations with them as we decide if we should send military aid (which we have done, including sending troops) a current and relevant issue — no matter who controls our government.
Just because news wasn’t written today, doesn’t mean that the content isn’t currently relevant.