It's too early to speculate, but whether Chevron's California oil refinery explosion was sabotage or accident, the state's in trouble
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Ho, Boy - Massive Fire Erupts at Chevron's El Segundo, CA, Refinery Last Night
...According to Chevron's website, the El Segundo refinery was constructed in 1911. The facility produces 276,000 barrels of crude oil every day and "is the largest producing oil refinery on the west coast," Chevron officials wrote on its website.
The refinery is closed until further notice.
This is California - think what that means.
Well, wait - let me first tell you what the El Segundo refinery does:
...Chevron's second biggest refinery in the United States, the El Segundo facility supplies a fifth of all motor vehicle fuels and 40% of the jet fuel consumed in southern California.
did you know in 1976 the last oil refinery in california was opened. there were 33 in operation serving 21.9 million people and 11.5 million cars. Today there are 13 (well now 12) refineries all dilapidating serving 39.5 million people and 30.4 million vehicles. not sustainable.
— Rich's musings (@skeeballbob37) October 3, 2025
$10 gasoline here we come.
— Mike Umbro 🪃 (@MikeUmbro) October 3, 2025
If the Chevron El Segundo refinery has to go offline for any amount of time, gas prices in CA, AZ, NV are going to soar.
— Jennifer Van Laar (@jenvanlaar) October 3, 2025
Another complication: Philipps 66's LA refinery is closing this month - in 2024 it represented 8% of the state's crude oil capacity pic.twitter.com/69MF3KNOKP
Forty percent of the state's oil refining capacity gone.
BUT WAIT - THERE'S MORE!
You see, the oleaginous King of California has driven refiners out of the state, and, yup - another one leaves...*checks notes*...next month.
If the Chevron El Segundo refinery has to go offline for any amount of time, gas prices in CA, AZ, NV are going to soar.
Another complication: Philipps 66's LA refinery is closing this month - in 2024 it represented 8% of the state's crude oil capacity pic.twitter.com/69MF3KNOKP— Jennifer Van Laar (@jenvanlaar) October 3, 2025
What happens if Chevron can't get El Segundo back into operation as Philipps pulls chocks and exits the pattern?
Will California even have enough gasoline to worry about the cost?
As of that moment, the answer is HARD NO.
$SOC
Given planned refining outages by the beginning of 2026 California was going to be walking a tight rope with just a 6% buffer between refining capacity and daily consumption.
With Chevrons El Segundo out there will be a deficit of roughly 11% between the states needs…— TheDailyCompounder (@100xCompounding) October 3, 2025
...With Chevrons El Segundo out there will be a deficit of roughly 11% between the states needs daily and what the state can refine.