Cumulative Impact Of Environmental Regulations On The U S Petroleum Refining Transportation And Marketing Industries

Discusses the potential effects of new environmental regulations under consideration that could affect the petroleum industry's contributions to the economy -- reducing investment in capacity and new technologies, making domestic refiners less competitive in the global marketplace, increasing imports of refined products, increasing consumer prices for products such as gasoline and heating oil, and reducing industry employment. Contents: current environmental requirements; future requirements on refining industry; and future requirements on transportation and marketing industry. Extensive appendices detail cost development models.

This report begins by looking at the current production capacity of the oil refineries operating in the United States, and the sources and changes in crude oil supply. It then examines the changing characteristics of petroleum and petroleum product markets and identifies the effects of these changes on the refining industry. The report concludes with discussion of the policy and regulatory factors that are likely to affect the structure and performance of the industry during the next decade.