The facility, which is operated by LyondellBasell Industries, spans 700 acres and was built in 1918. It currently produces about 200,000 barrels of fuel per day and is scheduled to permanently close in 2023 – or possibly even earlier in the event that a "major equipment failure" spreads to two major units at the facility.
Two people familiar with problems at the refinery told Reuters that major retrofit work needs to be done, but the costs are really high and probably not feasible (Related: Natural gas prices are also soaring).
"After thoroughly analyzing our options, we have determined that exiting the refining business by the end of next year is the best strategic and financial path forward for the company," said LyondellBasell executive Ken Lane in a statement.
The facility is among the top 25-largest-capacity refineries in the United States, which is currently suffering from the most inflated gasoline prices ever in the nation's history.
The Biden regime is destroying America at breakneck speed
Since the launch of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) plandemic, six refineries in the U.S. with a capacity of about 801,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil have closed shop. Another five refineries with a capacity of 408,100 bpd of oil remain idle – the highest number of idle refineries since 2012.
"The COVID pandemic really drove down gasoline and diesel demand, which accelerated some things that were already happening," said Geoff Moody, vice president of government relations at the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, to The Daily Caller News Foundation.
"There was already some contraction happening in the industry as a result of projected declines in U.S. gasoline demand in the future and companies just deciding that the assets were better used as other projects or shut down completely," he added.
"Some of it's been very policy-driven and companies decided that it wasn't worth it to keep operating those assets."
With gas and diesel prices already at record levels, the continued shutdown of refineries will have an absolutely devastating impact on the national economy. Diesel supplies have also hit all-time lows on the East Coast, diesel being the fuel needed by trucks to move goods.
The Biden regime is nowhere to be found, as usual, and is actually making the problem worse by pushing garbage "green" energy and sending billions overseas to Ukraine.
The inmates are running the asylum, in other words – if there is even anyone at the helm at all. America is on its last legs, and the Houston refinery shutdown is just the next domino to fall.
"That $40 billion Josef Biden gave to Ukraine should have been used to upgrade or rebuild this facility," wrote someone at WND.
"The Biden admin. hates Americans, hates America, and hates energy successes," added another. "'Green' energy is a lie, unable to have any big influence on U.S. energy needs, and wind turbines and solar powers are all constructed or made up of Chinese and African 'rare earth minerals' often provided by slave child labor."
Someone else wrote that the "backbone of America" is transportation that relies on gasoline and diesel. What this country needs more than anything to maintain its economy and any semblance of prosperity is more oil refineries, not less of them.
"We need to rid ourselves of Washington, D.C., who are NOT representing their constituent's needs and apparently don't understand economics or the 'supply and demand,'" someone else said.
More related news about the engineered takedown of America's energy infrastructure can be found at Collapse.news.
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