Iran situation

[cbtengr]

Is is so difficult to wipe out Iran's ability to wage war? They have to be dealt with, we poked em and now we have to shut them up. It galls me that they have been thumbing their noses at us since 1979.

[sg1987]

Yeah, you just gotta get it done before the midterms. Ya know, politics and all…

[GratefulCitizen]

Quite a few moving pieces in this mess.

The US is the world’s largest exporter of petroleum products.
The value of the US dollar is strongly influenced by the price of oil.

China is demonstrating profound demand destruction in oil.
Low oil prices are not good for the US.

It could be argued that the US benefits from prolonged disruptions in oil exports through Hormuz.
International demand for US dollars is currently very high.

[Badger52]

Originally Posted by GratefulCitizen

Low oil prices are not good for the US.

One of the regular answers to the citizen's question of "if we have so much, why is gas so high?" is that "well, we don't have the refining capability we used to."

What does it take to ramp more of that up, or is the continued failure to do so part of the overall strategy? (The quiet part not said out loud, as it were.)

NB: I try to pop in several times a day; sometimes one of those is successful, as here. 1 for 5, lol.

[GratefulCitizen]

Refinery production has been relatively flat for over 20 years.
https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/Le...s=WRPUPUS2&f=W

Net exports of refined products on the other hand…
https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/Le...s=WRPNTUS2&f=W

The rest of the world is willing to pay more for those refined products.

[Badger52]

Thanks for that. I hit the drop down in the analysis area to put the exports up next to the first. And the analysis showing the distribution is really interesting. Looking at that still makes Joe Schmo's question about "why isn't our own gas cheaper?" a valid one if we're exporting that much refined product.

Muchas gracias.
Oh. And it's still a "dry" heat right? lol