Another California refinery closure will threaten national and global economies

According to the Energy Information Administration, Today, California ranks first in jet fuel demand among the states.

The California Energy Commission(CEC) projects in-state jet fuel demand will rise significantly in the long term, growing from about 271 thousand barrels per day (TBD) in 2023 to an estimated 378 TBD by 2045. These jet fuel demand rates in barrels per day are the equivalent rates in gallons per day, from 11.3 million gallons per day in 2023 to 15.9 million gallons per day by 2045.

The aviation sector accounts for roughly 16% of California's total crude oil product use.

With no pipelines over the Sierra Mountains, California is an energy island separated from the crude oil supply and the infrastructure of oil refineries within the other 49 States. Thus, California transportation fuel demands for airports, cars, trucks, and the ships serving three of the busiest port terminals in America have staggering numbers MADE FROM in-state refineries:

• Jet fuel: With all its 145 airports, including 9 international airports and 41 military airports, the demand is 13 million gallons of aviation fuel daily in 2026. Several of those airports have direct pipelines to local refineries.
• Gasoline: For its 30 million vehicles, California is the second-largest consumer of motor gasoline among the 50 states, consuming 42 million gallons a day of gasoline, just behind Texas.
• Diesel: Diesel fuel used in California,consuming 10 million gallons a day of diesel to support the state's trucking of products from 3 of the busiest shipping ports in America.
• Fuel for the ships in three of the busiest Ports in America, located in California.
  • Port of Los Angeles had more than 1,800 vessel arrivals in 2024, which includes cruise and merchant ships.
  • Port of Long Beach handled over 9.6 million container units in 2024, indicating a very high volume of ship activity, plus cruise ships.
  • Port of Oakland, which also handles significant cargo volumes, contributes to the total number of cruise and merchant ships needing fuel.

California refineries have produced ALL the in-State transportation fuels demanded on the California Energy Island. With two recent refinery closures, Governor Newsom CANNOT explain WHERE the transportation fuels will come from to support the DAILY CONSUMPTION of 13 million gallons of aviation fuel for 9 international airports and 41 military airports.

California is the nation's largest jet-fuel consumer. Roughly 20% of supply is now imported from refineries located in foreign countries, primarily from India and other Asian refiners (South Korea). Imports have surged alongside two recent California refinery closures. Today, California now has only seven operating refineries.

Five major refineries in California produce jet fuel, with the bulk of the state's supply concentrated in Southern California. The primary refineries providing jet fuel include:

• Chevron El Segundo Refinery :Located in El Segundo, this is a massive supplier for the region, producing over 40% of Southern California's jet fuel.
• Valero Wilmington Refinery: Located in the Port of Los Angeles area, it processes heavy crudes specifically to blend and produce jet fuel.
• PBF Energy Torrance Refinery: Located in Torrance, this facility produces approximately 1.8 billion gallons of transportation fuels annually, including jet fuel.
• Marathon Los Angeles Refinery: Located in the Carson/Wilmington area, it is the largest refinery on the West Coast.
• Chevron Richmond Refinery: Located in Richmond, CA. With Valero Benicia offline, the Chevron Refinery now supplies all the jet fuel for Travis Air Force Base and 60% of the jet for SFO and other NorCal airports.

When the Chevron El Segundo Refinery went down from the fire on its North Isomax Unit it took a lot of jet fuel offline with it. Due to the loss, a tanker had to be dispatched from the gulf coast with nearly 500,000 barrels of jet on board. In addition, a significant amount of jet was shipped from Northern California down to LA.

California's declining oil production and refinery closures, caused by the state's energy policies, have created an aviation fuel crisis. California has gone from a state of energy dominance to energy dependent. This dependency on imports from refineries in foreign countries is a direct threat to National security.

Three of the largest ports in America are in California. Los Angeles and Long Beach in Southern California and Oakland in Northern California. It is important to note that these ports cannot handle large volumes of imported fuel due to infrastructure limitations. This is because California's instate refineries were designed to provide for California's fuel requirements. With the current refineries that have shut down and the potential for additional refineries shutting down both military and our civilian airports are put at extreme risk due to those port infrastructure limitations.