news report courtesy of Reuters: "An explosion and fire ripped through a gasoline processing unit at an Exxon Mobil refinery in Torrance, California, near Los Angeles on Wednesday, slightly injuring four workers and shattering windows of surrounding buildings, authorities said."
my opinion: today's explosion at exxon mobil refinery is not an accident.
it is the work of an energy company committing corporate self-sabotage by taking production capacity offline in order to force gasoline pricing back up to where they were prior to october of 2014 when supply started to exceed demand.
the oversupply from domestic frakking and availability of cheap crude from the middle east put big pressure on the big energy companies. they had to sell their product for less and in turn this reduced the corporate profits.
energy companies gotta make that money. (and we gotta pay for it) "The fluid catalytic cracker is the facility’s main gasoline producing unit." - funny it would blow up just before the mandated switch to "summer blend" fuel - laying the foundation for a rapid increase in fuel prices.
my prediction: gas prices in so cal will rise immediately, then in mid march, while the refineries are switching to "summer blend" there will be another increase due to refinery production shortages. by summer we will be back to $3.50 - $3.90 per gallon.
corporations in this country answer only to the almighty dollar. they really do not care if they are crippling the economy or crushing the middle class and poor.
get ready to spend your income tax refund on higher priced energy and fuel.
