DENTON CINQUEGRANA: When you're losing money on doing it, what do you do? You stop making it. And that's when you shut down refineries, which we have seen happen.
CRONIN: The second thing that hurt refiners was actual physical damage. Hurricane Ida took out a refinery in Louisiana. A fire burned down another in Philadelphia. But the third reason is really the most crucial. The country is in the midst of an energy transition championed by none other than the president himself.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
BIDEN: I guarantee you, I guarantee you, we're going to end fossil fuel.
CINQUEGRANA: The Biden administration has made it clear that fossil fuels, you do not have a place on the table going forward.
CRONIN: So Cinquegrana says some refiners have repurposed their facilities. In fact, they're making renewables like biofuel instead of gasoline. As a result, the U.S. has lost a million barrels of refining capacity over the last few years. And Cinquegrana doesn't think the U.S. will ever refine as much oil as it once did.
CINQUEGRANA: I think the refining executives say, well, looks like the writing's on the wall.
CRONIN: The irony is that as refiners are shifting away from fossil fuels, they're making a lot of money. President Biden says it's not acceptable for refiners to be profiting so much when Americans are getting squeezed at the pump. In his letter to refiners this week, he called for the companies to ramp up their refining capacity. But that's unlikely to happen. For one thing, refineries are already running at full capacity. As for the ones idled during the pandemic, that's not a quick fix either. Not only would it take months to bring them back online, it's also a financial investment unlikely to pay off.
CINQUEGRANA: You're talking about a lot of money to get these refineries that are idled up and running. And when I'm being told, five years from now, we hope you don't exist, why should I help you?
CRONIN: And as for investing in new refineries, that's pretty much a nonstarter. Here's Chevron CEO Mike Wirth.
MIKE WIRTH: My personal view is there will never be another refinery built in the United States.