A recent article posted by The Epoch Times, “Phillips 66 to Close Los Angeles Oil Refinery,” explains how Phillips 66 is shutting down one of its refineries in response to uncertainty and “market dynamics;” uncertain dynamics created by the state’s climate and energy policies. [emphasis, links added]
This is true.
California’s government is actively hostile toward anything related to oil and gas, so refineries shutting down should not come as a surprise.
Epoch reports that “Phillips 66 said on Oct. 16 that it plans to shut down its refinery in the Los Angeles area of California in the fourth quarter of 2025.”
CEO Mark Lashier released a statement explaining that uncertainty and “market dynamics” affected their confidence in the long-term “sustainability” of the plant and were responsible for Phillips 66 choosing the site for closure.
Another spokesperson told Epoch that “low profitability” compared to other company assets was a factor, but claimed that Assembly Bill X2 – a bill that applies heavier regulatory burdens on oil refiners—was not strictly responsible.
The spokesperson told Epoch that Phillips 66 isn’t quitting California entirely, but will find “new ways to serve California markets” that will increasingly include importing gasoline.
Because of the shutdown, California will lose production of 85,000 barrels of gasoline and 65,000 barrels of diesel and jet fuel every day.
Other oil companies responded more honestly and forcefully to California’s new efforts to dictate refinery prices, with one Chevron executive stating flat out that “California’s policy choices have led to a gasoline shortage by driving suppliers away,” in a letter sent to the California legislature back in January.
Although Phillips 66 tried to play nice with California’s government by saying that the particular bill wasn’t responsible, others that Epoch interviewed were more directly tied to the closure and California’s high gasoline prices to the state’s anti-fossil fuel policies.
California Fuel and Convenience Alliance’s governmental affairs and regulatory director Alessandra Magnasco told Epoch that:
“[t]here is no mystery to our high gas prices—exploding overhead costs to run our stations, costly environmental regulations, and now, with even less supply in the market, every Californian will end up paying higher prices in this government-created energy crisis.”
She went on to say that “refinery closures are a direct result of policies that make it increasingly difficult to maintain and expand critical infrastructure.”
This is correct, and good on Epoch for reporting it.
California’s fuel prices are consistently higher than the national average, currently sitting at $4.65 per gallon versus the national average of $3.19, according to AAA’s gas price tracking website.
Californians already pay about $1.42 per gallon in state and federal taxes, and each new fuel standards rule and a bit of anti-oil legislation push the costs for fuel in the state higher.
Importing fuel from out of state is going to make it more expensive, and it is unlikely that Phillips is the only oil refiner that will soon be feeling the crush.
Higher fuel prices in California will make everything more expensive for Californians, not just filling their tanks, because as Climate Realism previously reported in “Thanks, Center Square, For Reporting on the Effects of High Fossil Fuel Prices on Food Prices,” high fuel prices impact the cost of food in particular.
Diesel fuel powers the trucks, tractors, and other equipment necessary for planting and harvesting, as well as the eventual transportation and processing.
The worst part is that California is not bringing just itself down with its insanity – it is dragging other states down too.
California refineries export fuel to neighboring states like Nevada and Arizona, and their governors openly opposed the bill because of the impact it will have on their fuel prices.
Imagining that laying yet another stack of regulations on top of the already overburdened California oil and gas industry would not result in refinery and other fuel business closures is ignorant.
The Epoch Times does a good job of pointing out the implications of California’s energy policies, displaying the real casualties of Newsom and the Democratic leadership in the state’s efforts to restrict fossil fuel use, lost jobs in the state, and residents paying higher prices.
Top image via NBC-LA/YouTube screencap
Read more at Climate Realism
“… affected their confidence in the long-term “sustainability” of the plant …”
That plant has been in operation for over 100 years already. Maintenance costs? Probably not cheap.
Carbon dioxide’s ability to warm the planet is determined by its ability to absorb heat, which decreases rapidly as CO2’s concentration in the atmosphere increases. This scientific fact about CO2 changes everything about the common view of CO2 and climate change. It means that the common assumption that carbon dioxide is the “main driver of climate change” is scientifically false. References to prove it are readily available. For anyone who is interested, go to the CO2Coalition Web Site. See “PUBLICATIONS”.
The so-called scientists pushing the climate change hoax know that it is false but their livelihood is tied to the lie. And the politicians pushing it may not know it is a lie since their scientific knowledge is near zero but they don’t care. For them it’s all about power and that is all.
How do the airlines handle this? Do they buy the minimum amount of jet fuel in California needed to get in and out of there? Safety might be compromised, if so
All refined fuels will have to be trucked into the state adding to the cost for consumers at the pump and a plane ticket out of CA.
Governor Nuisance is even more Bigger Idiot then Biden and Moonbeam Brown typical use of Politics to appease those UN/CFR/Globalists and those annoying cunts from Greenpeace and the NRDC