Turkey Talking Points Volume #2

Because it’s Thanksgiving and we can use all the help we can get.

Upside down turkey. Probably brought to you by the same people proposing fuel export bans.

Happy Thanksgiving! It’s that time of year again — turkey, mashed potatoes and seeing all the weird cousins you forgot existed. It’s okay, we’ve all been there.

For many people in our industries, dinner can come with a lot of questions (and not always nice ones) about what we do and why we’re doing it. We know it isn’t easy, so we’re here to help. Here’s some of our best talking points.

On current events…
 

• On “price gouging”: Refiners are price-takers, not price makers. Products like wholesale gasoline are sold into a competitive auction-like global market where buyers compete for the same product. More here.
   
• On the “25-days” of diesel left in storage: Too many people are interpreting this data like a countdown clock. The United States does not depend solely on diesel in inventory to supply our country’s daily needs. Refineries produce about 5 million barrels per day on top of the diesel we have in storage — and these production volumes are primarily what’s satisfying the market.
   
• On the rail strike: More than 2 million carloads of fuel and petrochemical feedstocks and products move by rail every year. The inability to move certain materials in and out of our facilities would eventually overwhelm on-site storage capacity, leading to bottlenecks and eventual forced production cuts. More details here.
   
• On export bans: Export restrictions would throttle U.S. fuel production, reducing global fuel supplies and making refined products more expensive both here in the United States and around the world. A policy like this would undermine the market rebalancing already underway.

On the scope and impact of our industries…
 

• On jobs: There are 128 operable refineries and 344 petrochemical manufacturing units in the United States. Altogether, these facilities support more than 3 million high-paying American jobs.
   
• On American energy leadership: American refineries are among the most complex and efficient in the world. We also export 3.2 to 3.4 million barrels per day to more than 100 countries, making us a leader in the global energy market.
   
• On the importance of petrochemicals: The six base petrochemicals make thousands of everyday products a reality — all the way from textiles to medical devices to electronics and more.
   
• On the economy: Our industries contribute $583 billion in total GDP and contribute $123 billion to the economy in local, state and federal taxes annually.

On sustainability…

• On clean operations: U.S. refineries have invested more than $100 billion in the last 10 years to improve refinery efficiency, reduce emissions and produce cleaner fuels.
   
• On plastics: Across the board, plastics are responsible for lower lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions than alternative materials like paper, metal, and glass. A paper grocery bag is responsible for 5x the emissions of a plastic bag.
   
• On heavy transportation: You can’t electrify planes or trucks. Refiners are developing renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel, which could cut carbon emissions from heavy transportation by as much as 80%.
   
• On recycling: Noticed that consumer brands are increasing the use of recycled plastic in their products? Our people make it possible. Advanced recycling — a set of technologies developed by petrochemical manufacturers — is transforming previously unrecyclable plastic into thousands of consumer products.

Let us know if there’s anything else that would be helpful in your conversations with your family! You’ve got this.

Allison + the AFPM EMPOWER team