I love how you figure all the angles an make such perfect pipe connections. You are truly the master from whom we all need to learn.
The refineries are closing also because we're using less petroleum. The improvement in fuel economy of autos is making a difference. It's has taken some time since the average life of a car on the highway is 10 years. About 10 years all the cars are cycled off the roads so the improved fuel economy starts making a difference. The same goes for electrical generation. The switch to LEDs is also making a difference... slowly and surely.
I had a 1966 Fairlane GTA with a 390 cu. in. (6.4L) 335 hp V8. It was a "muscle car" and did 0-60 in about 6.5 seconds and got 13 mpg on a good day. I now have an Acura TL-S type that has a 3.5L V6, has 285 real hp and does 0-60 in almost a second faster than my "muscle car". And it gets 26 mpg on the road. And then there's my Buick LaCrosse. It has a 3.6L direct injection DOHC engine with 303 hp. I would bet that it's 0-60 times are as good as the Acura's and it got 30 mpg on the last highway trip we took back East. Even a Corvette with a 6.2L LS3 V8 gets 430 hp and gets 25 mpg on the highway. When all the cars on the road get two to three times the gas mileage, it makes a difference in petroleum usage. Car purchases are flattening out. The youngest generation of people in the workforce are not enamored by cars as my generation was. They're taking Uber, living in urban areas and some aren't even getting a driver's license. These kinds of sea changes take time, but they do happen.
