Since 2019, more than 1.3 MMb/d of U.S. refinery capacity has been either shut down for economic reasons or converted to renewable diesel production. The decline in the nation’s ability to produce gasoline and diesel hampered the refining sector’s response to the post-COVID demand recovery and exacerbated the big run-up in motor fuel prices that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last February. Now, there may be a new threat to U.S. refining, namely the possibility that a proposed Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule on hydrofluoric-acid-based alkylation could, over time, spur an even larger round of refinery closures. In today’s RBN blog, we continue our look at alkylate — a critically important part of the U.S. gasoline pool — the prospective regulation and its possible effects.
As we said in Part 1, alkylate is a blendstock that represents about 15% of the total gasoline pool and offers a triple-threat combo of positive attributes: high octane, low volatility and low sulfur content. There are two primary catalysts that refiners can opt to use in the production of alkylate: hydrofluoric acid, or HF, and sulfuric acid, or H2SO4. Each is quite popular, with HF and sulfuric acid technologies each representing about half of domestic alkylation capacity — and with those shares varying significantly on a regional basis. While refiners have been safely operating both types of “alky” units for many decades, HF alkylation for some time has been in the crosshairs of various regulators, including the EPA, which recently proposed that refiners using the HF-based process be required to undertake extensive evaluations of potentially safer alternative technologies. While the rule wouldn’t require refineries to replace and shut down HF alky units, refiners employing HF as a catalyst for producing alkylate are concerned the rule’s mandated evaluations may put further pressure on them to do just that. Also, many are worried that the very high cost of shifting from HF alkylation to another alkylate production process may well lead more refineries to shut down, leaving the U.S. with even less refining capacity to meet consumer needs.
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About the song
“Alfie” was written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David and appears as the first song on side two of Dionne Warwick’s sixth studio album, Here Where There Is Love. Although Bacharach has said that “Alfie” is one of his favorite songs, he and Hal David struggled with writing a song about a man named Alfie when Paramount requested it for the upcoming 1966 British comedy drama film of the same name. After viewing a rough cut of the movie, David utilized one of the lines that the film’s star Michael Caine used throughout the film, “What’s it all about,” as the opening phrase for the song. Since the film was set in England, Paramount wanted a British singer for the song. Cilla Black agreed to do the song only if Bacharach agreed to do the arrangement for the session. To her surprise, he did and conducted a 48-piece orchestra at Studio One at Abbey Road Studios with George Martin producing in the fall of 1965. Black released the single in the UK in January 1966 as a tease for the movie, and it went to #9 on the UK pop charts. Cher recorded her version of the song, which appeared at the end credits of the international version of the film, at Gold Star Studios in Hollywood, with Sonny Bono producing. Released as a single in July 1966, it went to #32 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. When Dionne Warwick — Bacharach’s first choice to cut the song — released her version as a single in March 1967, it went to #5 on the Billboard R&B chart and #15 on the Hot 100 Singles chart.
Here Where There Is Love was recorded in late 1966 at Bell Sound in New York City, with Burt Bacharach and Hal David producing. Released in December 1966, it went to #1 on the Billboard R&B Albums chart and #18 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart. It was Warwick's first album to be certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. She performed “Alfie” from the album at the 1967 Academy Awards show. Seven singles were released from the LP.
Dionne Warwick is an American singer, actress and television personality. After meeting Burt Bacharach in 1959, she started singing on demos for him and his writing partner Hal David. She signed with their production company and secured her first record deal with Scepter Records in 1962. Warwick has released 40 studio albums, five live albums, 25 compilation albums and 95 singles and has sold more than 100 million records worldwide. She has won six Grammy Awards and is a member of the Grammy Hall of Fame and the R&B Music Hall of Fame. Warwick has appeared in 16 motion pictures and numerous television shows and concert specials. She continues to record and make occasional personal appearances.
