"gooey, acidic, or laced with sulfur"... $7 billion later

The Wall Street journal reported today that, due to increased problems with the sticky, acidic, and sulfur-rich oil we are drilling for today, Royal Dutch Shell PLC and Saudi Arabian Oil Co. are planning to spend $7 billion over the next 30 years in refinery improvements in the US.

Among the projects... doubling "the size of the storied Motiva (Texas) refinery... turn[ing] the sprawling plant... into the biggest crude refiner in the U.S.". Also on the plate, improving the current Port Arthur facility into one that can effectively process the stickly, acidic, and sulfur-rich oil that we are seeing more of as time passes (and our need for petroleum increases).