Phillips 66 Co. will shutter its oil refinery near Los Angeles Harbor in the fourth quarter of 2025, according to a company statement that has raised concerns about California’s ability to maintain its supply of cleaner-burning gas blends.
The company’s Los Angeles Refinery consists of industrial facilities in the communities of Carson and Wilmington that occupy 650 acres. In its announcement, Phillips pledged to work with California officials to continue to supply the state’s fuel needs.
“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,” Mark Lashier, Phillips’ chairman and CEO, said in a prepared statement. “Phillips 66 remains committed to serving California and will continue to take the necessary steps to meet our commercial and customer demands.”
A California Energy Commission analysis of the planned closure indicates that expanding gas supplies in the state is crucial even as the state seeks to transition to renewable energy sources.
“Phillips 66 … will work with California to maintain current levels and potentially increase supplies to meet consumer needs,” the company said in its statement. “The company will supply gasoline from sources inside and outside its refining network as well as renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuels from its Rodeo Renewable Energy Complex in the San Francisco Bay area.”
The Phillips 66 decision comes in the wake of Gov. Gavin Newsom signing into law legislation designed to increase the transportation fuel supply in the state and reduce the risk of gas price spikes during periods of falling gasoline inventories. The new law, Assembly Bill X2-1, would allow the California Energy Commission to maintain minimum levels of gas inventories even when refineries are down for maintenance.
The Newsom administration has said there were two recent situations when planned refinery maintenance led to falling gas supplies statewide and corresponding spikes in prices at the pump. The new law was designed to avoid such economic upheavals, supporters say.
But the oil industry and other business groups opposed the bill, saying that it gives government regulators too much authority to dictate how private businesses manage their operations.
“We believe its implementation could lead to significant unintended consequences that would destabilize the fuel market, impose undue financial burdens on consumers and small business owners, exacerbate existing infrastructure and regulatory challenges, and jeopardize drivers in the Golden State and our neighboring states,” Elizabeth Graham, CEO of the California Fuels and Convenience Alliance (CFCA), said prior to the measure being signed by the governor.
The CFCA is a trade association representing small or minority-owned retail marketers and wholesalers of gasoline, diesel, motor oil and alternative fuels.
The Western States Petroleum Association seemed to take a less negative view of the Phillips 66 decision in an emailed statement to the Southern California Record.
“We were made aware of the Phillips 66 announcement to cease operations at its Los Angeles-area refinery in the fourth quarter of 2025,” the statement said. “We understand that Phillips 66 is not leaving the state and remains committed to meeting California’s commercial and consumer fuel demands.”
Los Angeles City Councilman Tim McOsker, who represents the region where the refinery is located, said city officials would do what they could to assist the 600 refinery workers and others affected by the closure.
“This action marks the end of one story in Wilmington’s industrial era but opens the door to exciting opportunities for new jobs, improved air quality and innovative economic benefits in the years to come,” McOsker said in a prepared statement. “We need to seize this moment to work with business, labor and community to further L.A.’s bold climate goals.”