US Petroleum Refining Industry can expect a 5% Growth in 2002 for Capital and Maintenance Spending

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The following is an advisory by Industrialinfo.com (industrial Information Resources, Incorporated: Houston, Texas). According to the recently released 2002 Industrial Outlook, the US Petroleum Refining industry is expected to see an increase of 5% in annual capital and maintenance spending for 2002. This increase in spending is partially a result of environmental compliance issues requiring refineries to produce cleaner fuels and reduce Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAP's).

The spring and summer of 2001 brought unusually high gasoline and crude oil prices, delaying many planned maintenance turnarounds. However, in the late summer and early fall of 2001, the high prices retracted, which led to the acceleration of many of the late fall planned turnarounds. 2001 capital spending focused on the implementation of new technologies and process changes to increase product yields. With a less than optimistic outlook for margins in 2002, spending could likely be isolated to environmental and maintenance programs for the coming year. These topics and more are included in the recently released 2002 Industrial Outlook published by Industrial Information Resources and available on CD-ROM.