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Background:

1. The House Republican Conference confirms that “the newest significant refinery began operating in 1977.”

2. The Energy Information Administration’s profile on Singapore.

3. The Congressional Research Service reports:

   “Hurricanes Katrina and Rita shut down oil and gas production from the Outer Continental Shelf in the Gulf of Mexico, the source for 25% of U.S. crude oil production and 20% of natural gas output. Katrina, which made landfall on August 29, resulted in the shutdown of most crude oil and natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as a great deal of refining capacity in Louisiana and Alabama, 554,000 barrels per day of which was still closed as of late October, 2005.”

4. The American Petroleum Institute reports that:

   “The United States will be more dependent on imports of gasoline and other petroleum fuels while U.S. refining production would be shifted overseas if a climate change bill passed in the U.S. House of Representatives becomes law.”

5. The Republican American Energy Act will:

• Increase American supplies of gasoline and diesel by encouraging greater refinery capacity by streamlining and accelerating the refinery permitting process.
• Require the President to designate at least three closed military installations as potentially suitable for construction of a refinery, including at least one suitable for refining biomass to produce biofuel.

6. The Bureau of Labor Statistics confirms that the median refinery worker makes almost $55,000 a year.

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