Shell says U.S. oil refiners need more CO2 permits

Major oil company Royal Dutch Shell urged the U.S. Senate on Wednesday to give oil refiners a bigger share of free pollution permits under a cap-and-trade plan to fight global warming than the House of Representatives provided in its climate change legislation.

U.S. oil refineries received only 2 percent of the allowances, or pollution permits, in the House bill passed last month, even though they account for much more of the total carbon dioxide emissions produced by the United States.
The oil sector says it was short-changed compared to other big carbon dioxide emitters, like electric utilities, which were given 30 percent of the permits.

“Shell is particularly concerned that the current allowance value allocated to the U.S. refining sector in the (House) bill does not cover direct emissions as fully as other sectors are covered,” Steven Fries, the company’s chief economist, said at a Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee hearing on climate change.

Reuters