Info on NPRA

Mission

NPRA speaks for the petrochemical and refining industries on issues important to their business. We seek to inform policymakers and the public how our industries help improve their lives, strengthen the economy, protect the environment and promote national security.

Who We Are

NPRA members include more than 450 companies, including virtually all U.S. refiners and petrochemical manufacturers. Our members supply consumers with a wide variety of products used daily in their homes and businesses. These products include gasoline, diesel fuel, home heating oil, jet fuel, lubricants, and the chemicals that serve as "building blocks" for everything from plastics to clothing to medicine to computers. The refining and petrochemical industries help improve the quality of life for people, make a vital contribution to economic growth and promote national security. While making and delivering products essential to everyone, our members work diligently to operate their facilities safely and to protect human health and the environment.

NPRA's goals are to:

serve as a strong advocacy voice for our members with government officials, the media and the public to promote policies that balance energy supply needs with environmental goals,
facilitate technical advancement and continued progress in safety, environmental performance and security, in part through world-class meetings and conferences several of which are the foremost industry meetings in the world,
educate the public and policymakers about the vital role of the refining and petrochemical industries in the nation's economy and our contribution to improvements in the quality of life.

Our Environmental Commitment

NPRA members are dedicated to continued improvement in the environmental performance of our processing facilities and products. We recognize that environmental progress and protection can be achieved only through strong commitment and constant vigilance. Our members believe that environmental progress and economic strength are linked and that the failure to achieve either would be damaging to society.

History

In 2003, NPRA celebrates a milestone of 101 years of service to the refining and petrochemical industries. From its beginning as the National Petroleum Association or NPA, which was founded in 1902, NPRA has successfully served an industry that has been changed dramatically by technology and the industrial developments of the 20th century.

NPA was founded by a group of primarily East Coast-based refining companies, such as Sun Oil, Pure Oil, Sinclair and Shell. It was joined in 1912 by the Western Petroleum Refiners Association or WPRA, which was founded as a sister organization representing mid-continent refiners. The two organizations worked together on many issues and jointly opened a Washington, D. C. office in 1918, realizing the need for the industry to interact with the federal government. Important issues to the Association's founders included fair business practices among members, rail tank car transportation, and revenue taxes on crude oil and petroleum products.

Promoting new technology and other innovations has always been and continues to be a strong focus of NPRA. From its start, NPRA and its parent organizations, NPA and WPRA, were at the forefront in developing and distributing information on emerging manufacturing methods for the refining and, later, the petrochemical industries. By the 1960s, the issues facing the refining industry were national rather than regional. In response, on July 1, 1961, NPA and WPRA merged to create the present day NPRA, then known as the National Petroleum Refiners Association.

The 1970s saw new realities emerging for the refining and petrochemical industries. In 1970, the Environmental Protection Agency was founded. This same year, The Clean Air Act of 1970 established air quality standards mandating new automobile engines and a new, unleaded formulation of gasoline to support the catalytic converters in those engines. This marked the first reformulation of petroleum products to meet growing consumer demands for cleaner products.

Regulation by federal, state and local governments continues to challenge refiners to produce fuels and other products that are increasingly environmentally friendly. In this decade, refineries face unprecedented requirements for new investment to produce cleaner gasoline and diesel.

NPRA's association with the petrochemical industry began early in the petrochemical industry's development. The industry's technological roots were in the European coal chemicals industry largely developed in Germany in the late 1800s through World War II. Improvements in this technology, fueled by U.S. companies with feedstocks from oil and natural gas, created the petrochemical industry as we know it today.

Over the years, the petrochemical industry has faced many challenges. Feedstock and energy costs have been highly variable. Extensive environmental, health and safety laws were passed throughout the years. In the past decade, there has been increased competition for petrochemical sales worldwide. Also, globalization and information technology have significantly affected the organization of petrochemical businesses worldwide.

To reflect the converging nature of the petrochemical and refining industries in its activities and membership, NPRA changed its name to the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association in 1998. Thus, through its first 100 years, NPRA has weathered dramatic changes in the oil industry and the world economy. The next 100 years will bring new technologies and unforeseen challenges to the industries. NPRA looks forward to continuing its century of service to industry during its second 100 years.