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They also refine a bunch of the Indonesian oil, which I always found funny (refining is where the real money is, so why don't Indonesians do it themselves...?)
by toyg 5y ago
They also refine a bunch of the Indonesian oil, which I always found funny (refining is where the real money is, so why don't Indonesians do it themselves...?)
- sct202 5y agoIndonesia nationalized all the assets of Royal Dutch Shell after independence, so there was probably some hesitation from companies to build refineries there versus Singapore.
- dragonwriter 5y agoFinished goods are where all the money is in capitalism, so why do any of the poor countries that export raw materials not just stop doing that and make finished goods?
- coldtea 5y agoBecause post-colonial powers ensure that friendly (to them) people are in power that doesn't even dream of attempting it. And if that fails, they can also bomb or bring in a dictatorship.
- smnrchrds 5y ago> refining is where the real money is, so why don't Indonesians do it themselves...? The economics of oil industry is more complicated than that. Canada does not refine most of its oil either. It's not because we don't have the technology or the money to build more refineries. It's because refining any more than the current amount does not make economic sense.
- missedthecue 5y agoRefining is a tough very capital intensive business with very slim margins (known as the crack spread). I wouldn't say it's where all the money is at all.