Gasoline prices are expected to rise sharply over the next few weeks owing to low refinery utilization rates in the US. Refinery utilization rates in the US have remained below 87 % for 8 straight weeks. The number that the industry prefers is around 93-95 %. Gasoline stockpiles are below the 5-year seasonal average by 2 % and continue to fall. In the last few months refinery stoppages have been due to weather and maintenance.

The flow of petroleum in the world is comparatively tranquil until it gets to a refinery. There it is heated to several hundred oC, pressurized, passed through distillation columns and split into various streams, passed through different catalysts and cracked into fragments, contacted with hot acids, brutalized with superheated steam, converted into reformates, blended and then sent to a tank farm before heading out to your local gas station. All of this is done with hot, highly flammable hydrocarbons in a continuous flow system. Operators and computers monitor flow rates, temperatures, pressures and fill levels in vessels. Unusable vapors are sent to a flare tower for removal from the facility lest they accumulate and create an explosion hazard. That these places do not explode frequently is a wonderment and attests to the coordinated skill of a great many people.

Texas City.