EPA Ruling on the Clean Air Act and Highlights on the Petroleum Refining Industry, a Feature of Industry Today

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Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas) will explore the potential spending that could begin immediately at U.S. power plants as a result of the latest ruling by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on the New Source Review program. Crazy Al of Industrialinfo.com Radio will talk with Britt Burt, Power Group Manager for Industrialinfo.com on a special segment of Industry Today September 8, 2003. Also a special guest for this segment of Industry Today will be Chris Paschall, Petroleum Refining Group Manager to talk about the prolonged effects the 2003 power black out in the Northeast has had on the petroleum refining market.

The recent ruling by the EPA basically creates categories for which a power plant owner can make retrofits or modernizations and simplify the permitting process for the routine replacement or upgrade of existing equipment without complicated permit applications or approvals. "The potential level of spending that will come as a result of a recent ruling by the EPA to allow modernizations at U.S. coal fired power plants without additional compliance guidelines is very significant," commented Mr. Burt.

The recent "Black-Out" in the northeast had dramatic effects on a region that was already suffering from low inventory levels due to shortages in crude oil deliveries from foreign markets such as Venezuela and Iraq. "From the ten refineries that lost several days of production due to this power outage we estimate there was over 134 million gallons of gasoline removed from the market. This kind of loss over a very short period time has immediate effects on the cost of gasoline at the pump," commented Mr. Paschall. "Wholesale prices have already come down and with the passing of the summer season, consumers could expect to see some relief at the pump in the near future," Mr. Paschall added.