America’s refiners and motor gasoline suppliers are facing an unprecedented inventory management challenge as the national response to COVID-19 has reduced domestic demand for fuel.
America’s freight rail system is an essential part of our national and global supply chains, including those for fuels and petrochemicals. While a work stoppage would be devastating, service curtailments and other strike impacts will be felt much sooner—before a strike is formally launched. As we learned this September, railroads will begin metering traffic and embargoing shipments of materials critical to the refining and petrochemical industries up to a week or more before a strike begins.
Visit AFPM’s Hurricane and Weather Event Resource Center for more information on steps being taken to ensure the safety of our members’ facilities, their employees and the communities that surround them.
It was 2010 and Jerry Wascom, ExxonMobil’s Americas refining director, was worried. Despite fuel and petrochemical manufacturers making significant improvements in the safety of their individual operations, across the industries there was an uptick in serious incidents. Workers were getting injured, surrounding communities were losing confidence, the reputation of the industries was being tarnished and regulators were becoming increasingly engaged. Wascom turned to his counterparts within the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers Association (AFPM), the industry trade group, and asked, “Are we doing enough to protect people?”
AFPM members including fuel manufacturers, petrochemical manufacturers and service providers (e.g., construction, technology and consulting firms) are seeking skilled employees for a range of positions.