Remember when “Made in America” meant something? That’s not the way that Biden or anyone in his administration thinks. And as we watch gas prices soar, we’re told of something else that doesn’t bring us any hope.
The CEO of Chevron speaks out to talk about how there haven’t been any oil refineries built in the U.S. since the 1970s. And, according to Mike Wirth he doesn’t expect to see any oil refineries ever built in the country again. The simple reason for this? Federal government policies.
During Bernstein’s Strategic Decisions Conference last week, Wirth spoke up to say, “Capacity is added by de-bottlenecking existing units by investing in existing refineries. But what we’ve seen over the last two years are shutdowns.”
Wirth talks of seeing how refineries are being closed and how units are coming down.
“The stated policy of the U.S. government is to reduce demand for the products that refiners produce.”
The problem is that there isn’t a reduced demand. There’s more demand than ever – and that’s why the gas prices are so out of control.
The Biden administration thinks that by reducing supply, we’ll all magically invest in electric cars. Even if we had the money to do that, the car industry is bogged down by supply chain issues and COVID. If you were to order a Tesla tomorrow, you wouldn’t see it until at least March of next year. That means that even if you committed to the idea of owning an electric car, you’d still be stuck with the need for gas in your existing car for at least nine more months.
We understand the need for gas. So does the CEO of Chevron. Yet, Biden and his lackeys still don’t get it. How is that possible?
Let’s be clear. An oil refinery will turn crude oil into an array of petroleum products. This includes everything from fuel to be used in the gas pumps to generating electricity to paving roads.
Without new refineries or an investment in the existing refineries, we lose the ability to produce our own fuel. We lose the ability to generate electricity. And we even lose the ability to pave roads.
Realistically, how can we build back better if we don’t have the ability to do any of these things?
According to the Biden administration, we can rely on other countries for some of this because it helps to generate global commerce. For other things, they’ll push policies so that we don’t need to rely as heavily on such things – like electric cars and renewable energy.
What the liberals don’t realize with their progressive agendas is such changes take time.
It could take years to be able to switch to electric cars. It could take decades to generate enough renewable energy to power the entire country.
The goals are certainly attainable – in time. But we’re not there yet.
And since we’re not there yet, we still need the government to provide us with what we do need. Much of that starts with making sure that we have operating refineries in the U.S. Yet Chevron’s CEO isn’t holding onto much hope, and that means that we shouldn’t, either.
As Fox News reports on some of what Wirth has said, “The U.S. grapples with soaring gasoline prices that were already climbing in 2021 amid increased demand and reduced supply and were exacerbated by Western sanctions imposed on Russia, a major oil exporter, for its invasion of Ukraine.”
Biden thinks that he’s helping by releasing 180 million barrels from the Petroleum Reserve. But, if you have been to the gas pumps recently, you know that it’s not helping a bit.
The U.S. gas production is increasing, but it’s not increasing enough to meet the demand – and certainly not enough to reduce the prices. And the reason for that is simply because the federal government has tied the hands of the industry, making it impossible.
New oil refineries could be the answer that we need, but we’re not going to hold our breath. Perhaps if we could just get a Republican into the Oval Office…
