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Note: The 1988-1989 peak was achieved following, "... a wrenching adjustment to long-term changes in market conditions and product requirements ... ," including the closure of 100 refineries with a total crude oil distillation capacity of more than 3 million barrels per day. Further, the ability of U.S. refiners to produce higher-valued light products from lower-priced heavy, high sulfur crude oil increased. See, Energy Information Administration, Performance Profiles of Major Energy Producers 1989, DOE/EIA-0206(89) (Washington, DC, January 1991), pp. 39-40.
However, a product price/crude oil price squeeze caused by the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait during 1990, and subsequent investment motivated by the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 rather than economic considerations depressed profitability for the early 1990's.
The 1998 decline in "All Other Lines of Business" was driven by the low crude oil prices of 1998, which depressed the return on investment for domestic and foreign oil and gas operations. See Energy Information Administration, Performance Profiles of Major Energy Producers 1998, DOE/EIA-0206(98) (Washington, DC, January 2000), Chapter 3, "Behind the Bottom Line."
Source: Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-28 (Financial Reporting System).