NEW YORK - Lobbyists for what could be the first oil refinery built in the United States since the 1970s are seeking help from federal lawmakers to hasten the permitting process, a spokesman for the company hoping to build the plant said on Thursday.
The company, Arizona Clean Fuels, hopes to build a $2.5 billion, 150,000 barrels per day refinery on desert land southwest of Phoenix.
A lack of US refining capacity has been blamed as one reason for higher gasoline prices, which soared to a nationwide record of $2.28 per gallon earlier this month. President George W. Bush, who has seen his approval ratings decline as gasoline prices rise, on Wednesday proposed allowing oil companies to build new refineries at abandoned military bases.
A spokesman for Arizona Clean Fuels said the company was not interested in building on an old military base.
Arizona environmental regulators granted the company hard-sought air permitting earlier this month. This week the company visited Wall Street to seek investors.
Besides financing, the plant still faces many hurdles, including obtaining a permit from the State Department that would allow it to receive crude oil from Mexico by pipeline.
The company also must prepare an environmental impact statement that requires it to determine how the proposed refinery and its daily operation could affect everything from any endangered species to Native American cultural remains.
"We're not asking for special exemptions or variances; we simply ask... could we get some assistance in speeding up that process and streamlining so it doesn't take another five years just to get the permits," said Ian Calkins, spokesman for Arizona Clean Fuels.
Arizona, one of the fastest growing states, relies mainly on California refineries for gasoline supply. It has experienced some of the worst gasoline price spikes in the country over the last several summers.
The company planned to visit US Senators John McCain and Jon Kyl of Arizona, both Republicans, as well as other lawmakers on the Senate Energy Committee as it draws up its version of a federal energy bill.
The US House of Representatives this month approved an energy bill that included a provision to help oil companies build or expand refineries in economically depressed areas with high unemployment.
Calkins said the company hopes to speed permitting by getting the Department of Energy to take the lead.
"Having that process fall under the DOE and having them be the lead agency versus having us deal with multiple federal agencies will significantly speed up that process," he said.
The last entirely new US refinery was completed in 1976.
Top independent refiner Valero Energy Corp. said on Wednesday it sees more economic sense in boosting capacity at its fleet of existing refineries than building new plants.
Story by Timothy Gardner
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
