> BTW, Valero, based in San Antonio, is one of those companies
> whose profits are way up, and they use primarily "sour" North
> American oil instead of paying outrageous prices for "sweet"
> Arabian oil. They're cheaper at the pump, too. And they
> don't even own their own wells, like Amoco, Shell and the others do.
Valero was also one of the first refineries to install the equipment
required to process that sour crude. There are quite a few others now too,
but Valero got in very early on, probably 9-10 years ago. Very forward
thinking, in touch with reality, management. Don't kid yourself Randall,
Valero buys huge amounts of oil from all over the globe. They can compete
on price so well due to buying most of their crude on the spot market
instead of having long term contracts. At least that's what they told me
when I was there showing off our equipment to the folk from Irving Oil (St
Johns, NB, Canada)
Jack
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