Oil refinery expansion raises lots of questions

Monday, September 10, 2007

From a column by James Rowen in The Capital Times:

You can expect to be reading and hearing a lot in the weeks and months ahead about Murphy Oil, and don't confuse it with the furniture cleanser that Colgate-Palmolive sells as Murphy Oil Soap.

We're talking Murphy Oil Co., the Arkansas-based energy company that sells gasoline under the Spur brand, and separately under Murphy signs at about 1,000 Wal-Marts around the country.

And runs the only oil refinery in Wisconsin.

The refinery is tucked somewhat out of sight and mind in Superior, on the Great Lake by the same name, where Murphy Oil cranks out 35,000 gallons of gasoline a day.

If it can find an investment partner with deep pockets, Murphy wants to spend $6 billion on a substantial expansion to 235,000 gallons a day.

That's a big increase.

And one that will become a matter of debate and concern, for several political and environmental reasons, given the nature of the oil refining business and Murphy Oil's headline-grabbing history. . . .

James Rowen is a Milwaukee writer and consultant who blogs at http://thepoliticalenvironment.blogspot.com.