Our driving habits

Ron Hutchins, Moultrie

May 09, 2008 10:55 pm

— Dear editor:
There have been quite a few rants over the past few months about gas prices. In addition, we've had a couple of letters to the editor that have addressed the subject as well. Although they all seem well meaning and concerned, I'm afraid that they are missing a point that needs to be addressed.
We keep being told that the price of gas is going up due to the economic principle of supply and demand. That is, in the case of gas prices, only partly correct. You see, there is plenty of oil to supply the refineries, but not enough refinery capacity to meet the demand. This isn't something new. The United States has been importing gasoline since 1994 when our demand exceeded the capacity of the refineries. Each year since then, we've had to import more and more gasoline.
If someone in Moultrie were to discover the worlds largest oil reserve in their back yard, the price of gas wouldn't magically go down. It would decrease a small fraction due to not having to travel as far to the refineries. The same could be said for drilling in ANWR or off the coast of Florida. Again, it's not the oil but the refined product that we can't produce enough of.
Rather than look at Congress for an answer, we should instead look at ways to make the process of opening up new refineries easier. Congress has already passed legislation to "streamline" the process, but it has failed to have any effect.
The last oil refinery to open in the US was back in 1976. Since then, there have only been two companies that have started the process of building a new refinery. The first group started the permit process in 1998. In 2005, they received the first of fourteen permits to build. It is estimated that they will complete the permitting process in 2012. Congress made the process easier, but environmental groups are using the courts to delay new refineries from opening.
If we want to see gas prices go down, we need to allow refineries to be built. Until then, the only way for prices to go down is for the demand to go down, which means driving less.

Ron Hutchins
Moultrie