Phillips 66 CEO Greg Garland predicts refining to grow via exports

Source: Tulsa World, Okla.mini storageAug. 28--BARTLESVILLE -- As cars in the U.S. become more fuel efficient and the younger generation is trending toward urban areas with less driving, Phillips 66 CEO Greg Garland predicts the export of refined petroleum products to overseas markets is the U.S. refining industry's future.Garland spoke at a forum Tuesday hosted by the Bartlesville Regional Chamber of Commerce on the status and future of the Houston-based pipeline, refining and fuel marketing giant.Refined products -- gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and lubricants -- are the company's No. 1 export, and Garland said the trend will continue. Although gasoline demand in the U.S. is expected to decline by 20 percent in the next 10 years, demand for refined products in South America and Africa will more than offset that drop, he said."It's a good future for the refining business," Garland said. "It's going to be a little different than what it is today, but life is like that."Phillips 66 employs about 3,000 people in Oklahoma, 2,000 of them in Bartlesville, where it's the city's largest employer.Another 1,800 people work at the Houston headquarters. The total workforce globally is 13,500.GarlandSince Phillips 66 broke off from ConocoPhillips in 2012 to focus independently on refining, chemicals and midstream, the company added 38 jobs at its Ponca City refinery, which is the largest in the state. Employing about 800 people, the facility can process about 190,000 barrels of crude oil per day."It is a core asset to the company," Garland said. "It is making very good money for us."Garland noted that Phillips 66 is the second largest independent refiner in the nation. No. 1 Valero Energy Corp. can handle 2.8 million barrels per day."We have a good geographself storagec footprint," he said. "Twenty-one percent is midcontinent, and 33 percent is on the Gulf Coast. That's right in the heart of the fairway of where all the action is going to be."With the development of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing to pull natural gas from shale formations, Garland said the country's natural gas resources should last for the next 100 years."People are talking about achieving energy independence by 2020. No one was saying that 20 years ago," he said. "We are in the midst of an energy revolution in the U.S. We have a chance in this country to turn the page and write the next page in the energy renaissance going on today."While Garland was critical of biofuel mandates from the government, he said the country should invest in alternative fuels for the next generation of fuels but that fossil fuels should remain a vital part of the energy mix."We'll still put gas in cars. That all-electric car -- you can drive that car from New York to Boston if you want to get out halfway," he quipped.Garland said he would like to see government credits or subsidies applied to research and development before alternative energy products are pushed onto the marketplace and proven viable."I'd like to see a level playing field," he said. "I don't think subsidies are good. I think subsidies distort markets."Garland noted that the company has one of the best safety records in the business."Zero (accidents) is the only thing that's acceptable," he said. "We want our investors to know that these assets are in good, safe hands."Susan Hylton 918-581-8381susan.hylton@tulsaworld.comCopyright: ___ (c)2013 Tulsa World (Tulsa, Okla.) Visit Tulsa World (Tulsa, Okla.) at .tulsaworld.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉