Oil company Phillips 66 says it will shut down Los Angeles-area refinery

LOS ANGELES -- Oil institution Phillips 66 announced Wednesday that it plans to unopen down a Los Angeles-area refinery by the extremity of 2025, citing marketplace concerns.

The refinery accounts for astir 8% of California's refining capacity, according to the state's Energy Commission. The institution said it volition stay operating successful the state.

"With the semipermanent sustainability of our Los Angeles Refinery uncertain and affected by marketplace dynamics, we are moving with starring onshore improvement firms to measure the aboriginal usage of our unsocial and strategically located properties adjacent the Port of Los Angeles," CEO Mark Lashier said successful a statement. "Phillips 66 remains committed to serving California and volition proceed to instrumentality the indispensable steps to conscionable our commercialized and lawsuit demands."

The closure volition interaction 600 employees and 300 contractors who assistance run the refinery, the institution said successful a quality release. The refinery consists of 2 facilities that were built much than a period ago.

The announcement comes days aft Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a instrumentality aimed astatine preventing state prices from spiking astatine the pump. The instrumentality authorizes vigor regulators to necessitate refineries to support a definite level of substance connected hand. The extremity is to debar abrupt increases successful state prices erstwhile refineries spell offline for maintenance.

Phillips 66's determination to adjacent was not related to the caller law, the institution said. It said it supported the state's efforts to support definite levels of substance connected manus to conscionable user needs.

The institution besides operates a refinery adjacent San Francisco that accounts for astir 5% of California's refining capacity, according to the authorities Energy Commission. Phillips 66 Santa Maria, a refinery that was located astir 62 miles northwest of Santa Barbara, unopen down successful 2023 aft the institution announced plans to person its San Francisco-area tract into "one of the world's largest renewable fuels facilities."

Newsom has applied unit connected lawmakers to walk lipid and state regulations. He called the authorities Legislature into a peculiar league successful 2022 to walk authorities aimed astatine cracking down connected lipid companies for making excessively overmuch money. The Democrat often touts California's presumption arsenic a clime leader. The authorities has passed policies successful caller years to signifier retired the the merchantability of caller fossil fuel-powered tract mowers, cars, large rigs and trains.