And motorists' appetites continue to grow. Last year at this time, there were about 13.4 million gallons of gasoline sold daily, according to U.S. Department of Energy data. But, the bottom line for refiners is they won't start building more refineries unless there is a way to make more money, industry experts say. And the oil companies contend there is no financial incentive to build refineries. There is just no money in it.
Oil companies are in the business for profits.
While oil producers blame everything from tight supplies to federal regulations, the three things that matter most to their collective bottom lines are the availability and price of crude oil, according to oil analysts, what they are able to charge in the regional markets they serve, and their refining capacity. But throughout much of the 1990s, healthy profits were hard to come by. From 1998 to 2000, the annual average of gasoline stockpiles in the United States fell from 216 million barrels to 202 million barrels, or a 6.5-percent decrease. Approximately 42 gallons of gasoline can be made from one barrel of crude oil. But refiners are now working near full capacity.