Siting Considerations for Refineries and Deepwater Terminals on the Atlantic Coast
Authors: Schafer Jon K. 
Published: December 2007

American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers, Inc.

This paper was prepared for the 1974 Eastern Regional Meeting of the Society of Petroleum Engineers of AIME, to be held in Washington, D.C., Nov. 14–15, 1974. Permission to copy is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words. Illustrations may not be copied. The abstract should contain conspicuous acknowledgment of where and by whom the paper is presented. Publication elsewhere after publication in the JOURNAL paper is presented. Publication elsewhere after publication in the JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY or the SOCIETY OF PETROLEUM ENGINEERS JOURNAL is granted upon request to the Editor of the appropriate journal provided agreement to give proper credit is made.

Discussion of this paper is invited. Three copies of any discussion should be sent to the Society of Petroleum Engineers office. Such discussion may be presented at the above meeting and, with the paper, may be considered for publication in one of the SPE magazines.

Discussion of the importance of community acceptance and cognizance of community standards and state and local land-use policy in successfully locating refineries and deepwater terminals. Basis for this paper is experience gained during the CPRC Study in the States of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.

Introduction

The siting of major new refineries on the Atlantic Coast has not taken place in response to increasing demand for refined product in the PAD I. Although many sites have been examined, none have resulted in the construction of new refineries.

The is beyond my ability to review and analyze all of these proposals and the reasons for their not coming to fruition. The general statement most often heard is that the project was abandoned "for environmental reasons." This over simplifies the problem. This paper describes a site selection problem. This paper describes a site selection process used in arriving at proxy-sites utilized in process used in arriving at proxy-sites utilized in the CPRC Deepwater Terminal Study, and the need for a firm understanding of state and local development and land use policies.

The United States has been experiencing a growing shortage of domestic crude oil since the late 1960's. This has resulted in increasing use of crude oil from foreign sources, particularly in the Middle East. During this same period, the U. S. imports of refined product increased also, much of which was refined in product increased also, much of which was refined in Europe from Middle East Crude Oil. Coupled with this decline in domestic crude, there has been a lack of refinery construction within the U. S.

In late 1972, the Coastal Plains Regional Commission's Industrial Development Task Force requested the staff to assess the implications of a fuel shortage in the Coastal Plains Region and the Southeast in general. The staff concluded that because of the relatively low base and because of the relatively high growth rate of the Southeast, the results of an energy shortage could be extremely damaging to the economic well-being of the Region. A full diagnosis of the energy supply and demand for the Southeast or even our Region was beyond our capabilities.