Hyperion Energy Center: Elk Point, South Dakota (Midway Between Sioux Falls, Sioux City)

Construction on this state-of-the-art, low-sulfur gasoline/diesel producing refinery was due to begin in 2010 but regulatory issues continue. With gasoline headed towards $4.00/gallon, I would assume there would be continued interest.

I haven't checked recently, but it's been my impression that refinery capacity has not been the issue. In fact, the current supply of oil is not even the issue (note: there is about a 22-day supply of oil at Cushing; it wouldn't take much to bring that supply down).

The anticipation of oil shortages in the next six months to a year is what is driving up prices. Issues on the minds of those investing in oil: a) continued unrest in the Mideast (apparently things are not as quiet in Saudi Arabia as one would be led to believe); b) the global recovery driving increased oil demand; c) the nuclear disaster in Japan driving a return to increased fossil fuel use in that country (home of the Kyoto Accords, one might add to which Japan has signed on; isn't that interesting?); and, d) the perceived continued antagonism toward our own domestic energy industry (the failure to string transmission lines from wind turbine farms to urban centers; the reluctance to add strategic pipelines; and, the permitoriums: offshore, North Slope, and on BLM onshore.

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