Phillips 66 closure is part of a growing trend – Redlands Daily Facts

Next year, Californians won’t be getting their kicks or gas from Phillips 66. Last week, the Houston-based company said it would close its Los Angeles refinery in the fourth quarter of 2025, affecting about 600 employees and 300 contractors. It produces about 8% of the state’s gas.

Chairman and CEO Mark Lashier said the refinery’s “long-term sustainability” was “uncertain and dependent on market dynamics.” Mike Smith, an official with the United Steel Workers union, which represents most workers, called it “a devastating loss for workers and surrounding communities.”

“Thanks to Gavin Newsom’s braggadocio and incompetence, hundreds of workers will lose their jobs while California drivers face a massive fare hike,” Yuba City Republican Assembly Leader James Gallagher responded in a statement. “Great job, Gavin.”

The announcement came just days after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed House Bill X2-1 into law through Rep. Gregg Hart, D-Santa Barbara. It is intended to encourage oil refineries to maintain sufficient supplies to prevent price spikes that often occur during maintenance or when switching between summer and winter gas blends. Newsom claimed he was forcing the industry to “do the right thing” to “prevent these price spikes and save consumers money at the pump.”

However, the new bill did not directly lead to the closure of Phillips, Robert Michaels told us; He is a professor emeritus at Cal State Fullerton specializing in energy economics. He added that the state’s consumption of gasoline and other fuels has declined in recent years, reducing the need for refining as much as in the past. Such a shutdown requires a long planning process. But it’s undeniable that the state’s hostility to affordable energy hasn’t helped.

Ordinary Californians will pay the price over time and in different ways.

State Sen. Steve Bradford, D-Gardena, told the Los Angeles Times that the closure could contribute to higher prices and that “ships are now docked in our ports that emit pollutants while unloading gasoline from countries where that is not the case .” have the same environmental standards as us.”

This is one of the unintended consequences of deliberate political efforts by state politicians to substitute their own personal preferences for what the people of California actually need. In fact, the recent closure reflects a trend that goes back decades. U.S. Department of Energy figures show the state’s refining capacity has fallen from 2.5 million barrels per day in 1984 to 1.62 million today.

The Phillips 66 lawsuit came two months after Chevron, the state’s largest and oldest oil company, announced it would move its headquarters from San Ramon to Houston. CalMatters reported at the time that the political aspects of the move “could not be ignored” as Newsom “vilified” the oil companies. Newsom has also imposed a ban on the sale of new gasoline-powered cars until 2035, although Newsom will soon leave office. His bad ideas should go with him.