US oil refineries rely on automation amid largest strike since 1980

Houston

THE heart and soul of a modern refinery isn't the welders and pipefitters with grease on their hands; it's the white-collar technicians seated at computers in a control room, overseeing the flow and temperature of every tank and valve.

That's why a workers' strike that began in nine US refineries on Sunday won't have much effect on fuel production at the plants. It probably will hurt refiners even less than the last strike 35 years ago, which also had a negligible impact on operations, according to industry analysts and consultants.