Phillips 66 to close Los Angeles refinery by 2025, affecting 900 workers

Phillips 66 has declared its intention to close its Los Angeles-area refinery by the end of 2025‚ citing market uncertainties. This facility which accounts for roughly 8% of Californias refining capacity‚ will cease operations affecting 600 employees and 300 contractors (a total of 900 workers)

Mark Lashier‚ the companys CEO stated: “With the long-term sustainability of our Los Angeles Refinery uncertain and affected by market dynamics we are working with leading land development firms to evaluate the future use of our unique and strategically located properties near the Port of Los Angeles“. He added that Phillips 66 remains committed to serving California and will continue to take the necessary steps to meet our commercial and customer demands

The announcement comes shortly after Gavin Newsom‚ Californias Governor signed a law aimed at preventing gas price spikes. This legislation authorizes energy regulators to require refineries to maintain a certain level of fuel on hand: the goal is to avoid sudden increases in gas prices when refineries go offline for maintenance. Phillips 66 however‚ stated that its decision to close was not related to the new law and expressed support for the states efforts to keep certain levels of fuel on hand to meet consumer needs

The company also operates a refinery near San Francisco accounting for about 5% of Californias refining capacity. Its worth noting that Phillips 66 Santa Maria‚ a refinery located northwest of Santa Barbara shut down roughly a year ago after the company announced plans to convert its San Francisco-area site into “one of the worlds largest renewable fuels facilities“

In recent years California has been pushing for renewable energy solutions. The state has passed policies to phase out the sale of new fossil fuel-powered equipment and vehicles including:

• Lawn mowers
• Cars
• Big rigs
• Trains

These efforts align with Californias status as a climate leader‚ a position Newsom often touts. The governor has been applying pressure on lawmakers to pass oil and gas regulations‚ calling the state Legislature into a special session about two years ago to pass legislation aimed at cracking down on oil companies for making too much money