(2012-01-12) International oil consultant Fereidun Fesharaki says he was not surprised by Tesoro's announcement to sell its refinery and 32 local stations.
It's a move he expected first by Chevron, which owns the state's other oil refinery.
"Refineries look at the long term and they see a no-growth market, expensive crude, and possibly losing ground," said Fesharaki.
...Fesharaki says there's a problem.
"Often people in Hawaii think if you use sun, wind or ocean it's free. It's not free," he says.
He says, right now, renewable energy costs are even higher than oil costs: about 100 dollars a barrel for oil and up to 200 for renewable energy.
He expects it will be our grandchildren who will see renewable energy prices at reasonable levels.
"The renewable push will be slowly and I emphasize very slowly over 20 to 40 year period of time," he estimated.
In the meantime, he believes another alternative is in order and within our reach.
The federal government has already labeled natural gas as what they call a "transition fuel."
