Economic Shock: Dozens Of Wyoming Oil Refinery Workers Laid Off

America does not have an oil shortage. It has a refinery shortage. What few refineries we do have are running dangerously at capacity.

This affects everything, not just the price at the gas pump.

Not a good time for any refinery to lay people off.

According to the Rawlins Times, More than 30 workers at the local HF Sinclair oil refinery are out of work.

The 55 others will be given their pink slips in September.

This is all part of last year's acquisition of Sinclair Oil by HollyFrontier and the creation of HF Sinclair.

'As a result of the recent acquisition, we are aligning our facilities,' the company says in a statement to the Rawlins Times. 'Through this work, we have made changes to organizational structures across the newly acquired facilities that will allow us to operate more efficiently, while maintaining safety and reliability.'

'I can confirm that this week 87 employees were notified that their roles were being eliminated at our Sinclair, Wyoming, facility,' Corinn Smith, the company’s director of corporate communications, says in the statement.

The company is providing career assistance including opportunities to fill other jobs across the company.

Gov. Mark Gordon expressed concern for the workers and communities of Sinclair and Rawlins. ( Rawlins Times).

'I am troubled to learn of the HollyFrontier Sinclair refinery layoffs,' Gordon says in a statement. 'My greatest immediate concern is with the displaced workers and the economic impact on the communities of Rawlins and Sinclair,' said Governor Gordon.

But then there is the question about refining ability. Usually when companies merge and consolidate their operations become more efficient. Is that the case here?

We will continue to get the same amount of oil from Sinclair or will we be getting less? In all of what is going on there has not been an answer to that question.

American oil companies have the ability to build new refineries and take up the processing load needed to provide the nation with gas, and so many other things we do with crude.

But government regulations prevent new refineries from being built. Even if one was given the green light regulations would slow the project down by over a decade, even though a new refinery could be built in just over a year.

So what happens next? You can add that to the list of questions.