>SNIP
>>- Fast track new construction and expansion of existing refineries
>SNIP
>
>Why do you think that would be acted on if done?
>The consolidation of the oil giants into behemoths several years back led to the closing of many refineries.
>Now I understood that many of those, or the land they occupied, are still owned by the oil giants. And of course they are ALREADY qualified for refineries whether the old one is gone or just mothballed.
>
>Saudi Arabia has twice offered to build a new refinery in the U.S. as a direct way of highlighting the REAL problem that is hurting U.S. oil/gas prices.
>

Saudi Arabia and Royal Dutch Shell are involved in a couple of refinery projects, just not in the US. See below

>The oil companies have NO USE for increased refining capacity because all that can do is cause LOWER GAS PRICES and it is not in their interest to have low gas prices.

Your lack of knowledge of economics is staggering. The profit margin for gasoline is steady at around 9-10%. They make their profits on volume. More refining capacity leads to more gallons produced leads to more gallons sold leads to greater profits on volume.

>They lose profit with each penny of price drop!

Wrong, see above

>The oil companies are sitting exactly where they want to be... allowing claims of supply/demand on the world market to be the cause of higher prices when in fact it is their closure of refineries years ago - to bring on this situation - that is the real cause.

There have been and still are attempts to expand refining capacity which are being shut down by coordinated efforts of environmental activists and NIMBYs.

Lookee here:
http://www.fool.com/News/mft/2005/mft05091414.htm
"To get an idea of what it takes to build a new refinery, one can look at Arizona Clean Fuels Yuma. This company has been trying to build a new refinery for six years, and not a single shovel of dirt has moved. The company is still fighting its way through city, county, state, and federal permit procedures. Between various levels of government, environmental organizations, and community groups, there are seemingly endless obstacles before construction can begin. Even if the stars align, Arizona Clean Fuels Yuma will not be running until the end of the decade."

And here:
"Motiva Enterprises LLC, jointly owned by Royal Dutch Shell PLC and Saudi Refining Inc, said it plans to increase its oil refining capacity at Port Arthur in Texas by 325,000 barrels per day."
http://www.forbes.com/finance/feeds/afx/2006/04/28/afx2706242.html

And here:
This quick google search will show new refineries planned in :
Jubail http://www.telegraphindia.com/1060524/asp/business/story_6262831.asp
Al-Zour http://www.kuwaittimes.net/Navariednews.asp?dismode=article&artid=1846638716
Yemen http://www.tradearabia.com/tanews/newsdetails_snOGN_article105499_cnt.html
Paradip http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1575418.cms
Kuwait http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Business_News&subsection=market+news&month=May2006&file=Business_News2006051643915.xml
Abu Dhabi http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2006/05/01/saudi_aramco_eyes_new_refinery_mous_by_end_may/

This was just the first page of results. Notice how the US locations are missing, yet if you read the articles you'll see that "BigOil" companies like ConacoPhillips and Royal Dutch Shell are both mentioned. Tell me again how US policy regarding refineries is not the problem. 1976 Jim. That was the last year a new refinery was built.