(May 11, 2021 at 2:42 pm)Anomalocaris Wrote:That's a small part of it.(May 11, 2021 at 2:23 pm)onlinebiker Wrote: Except Alaska.....A remnant of Cold War geopolitical concern. It would be much more economic to put the refineries in Alaska, refine the crude there, and ship the intermediate and final product to the lower 48 rather to ship the crude to the lower 48 for refining.
The prices are alway high there. Frequently the highest.
In spite of having the lowest ratio of consumption to production of crude.
Reason?
No refineries.
All gas is first shipped to the lower 48 as crude, refined, then shipped back..
But Alaska was too close to Russia. Growth an vital refining industry in Alaska was thought to make the US more susceptible to Soviet blackmail.
The big parts were WWII then NIMBY.
They did not want the Japanese to be able to capture refineries - so they didn' t build them.
Post WWII the locals just did not want the mess of refineries there.