Casey: New EIA Report Reveals Refinery Closures Could Further Push Up Prices at the Pump Up and Down the East Coast

Press Release

U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) today called on the owners of the Philadelphia and Delaware County oil refineries to redouble their efforts to find buyers for the facilities in the wake of a new Energy Information Administration report detailing the potentially devastating consequences the refinery closures would have on fuel prices.

"This report reveals the troubling consequences of reduced refining capacity for the Philadelphia region and the entire northeast," said Senator Casey. "In short, potential spikes and volatility in gasoline prices and shortages of home heating oil would have grave consequences for the economy of the region, and I will continue fighting to protect the workers and consumers who would be harmed by these closures."

The EIA report outlines numerous consequences of losing the output from the three area refineries, including:

Likely price volatility due to reduced supply, longer delivery times and transportation bottlenecks, with the biggest impact seen on gasoline, diesel and jet fuel;
Worsened supply shortages of home heating oil; and
Increased dependency on foreign supplies of refined products.

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