California’s Dangerous Path: Oil Refinery Takeovers and the Coming Supply Crisis

[rangerrebew]

California’s Dangerous Path: Oil Refinery Takeovers and the Coming Supply Crisis
2 hours ago Charles Rotter

California’s energy policies have been walking a tightrope for years, but now, the state is contemplating an extreme measure that could tip it into full-blown crisis mode: taking over oil refineries. According to a recent Los Angeles Times article, California policymakers are seriously considering state ownership of refineries to ensure gasoline supply remains stable as private refiners shut down operations​. This move—if it happens—could create a cascade of economic and logistical disasters, exacerbating the very problems the state claims to be solving.


https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2025-02-16/is-california-government-considering-oil-refinery-takeovers-yes-it-is
The Reality of Refinery Closures
California’s gasoline demand has been in gradual decline due to more efficient engines and an increasing number of electric vehicles (EVs) on the road. However, demand is still high enough that losing refineries without a reliable replacement strategy could create severe shortages​.

Major refiners—including Chevron, Marathon, Phillips 66, PBF Energy, and Valero—are facing mounting pressures from the state’s aggressive environmental regulations and shifting market incentives. Some have already transitioned away from gasoline production, while others are contemplating permanent shutdowns.

The Phillips 66 refinery in Wilmington is set to close by the end of the year, and more refineries could follow. The result? A shrinking gasoline supply in a state that still heavily relies on fossil fuels. As Skip York, chief energy strategist at Turner Mason & Co., put it:

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2025/02/18/californias-dangerous-path-oil-refinery-takeovers-and-the-coming-supply-crisis/

[rangerrebew]

I don't note the MSM is too concerned about the government seizing of private property.  What will they say when, not if, the government seizes news outlets because of reporting "misinformation as determined by the government?  Hitler controlled the "misinformation" about Nazis reported by the media.

[Smokin Joe]

Venezuela took over their oil industry, too.

The result, as service companies and oil companies fled, was disastrous, economically. They are still sitting on the largest reserves on the planet.

(California used to be the US's second largest oil producer, only behind Texas. ND passed California on the way up (Bakken/Three Forks), and has since been passed by New Mexico's Permian Basin plays.)

[Fishrrman]

"California policymakers are seriously considering state ownership of refineries to ensure gasoline supply remains stable as private refiners shut down operations​. This move—if it happens—could create a cascade of economic and logistical disasters, exacerbating the very problems the state claims to be solving."

Paging Ellis Wyatt...
Please pick up the nearest courtesy phone...
Your experience and advice is needed...

[IsailedawayfromFR]

Venezuela took over their oil industry, too.

The result, as service companies and oil companies fled, was disastrous, economically. They are still sitting on the largest reserves on the planet.

(California used to be the US's second largest oil producer, only behind Texas. ND passed California on the way up (Bakken/Three Forks), and has since been passed by New Mexico's Permian Basin plays.)

California could once again be second in the nation if the state implemented some common sense regulation rather than stifling and punishing regulation. 

Offshore production is stifled ever since the Santa Barbara spill in the 60s

Most may not know that there are dozens of oil fields, including one of the largest in the US, the Wilmington field, underlying the large urban areas of Southern California.  Those would be difficult to access, but not impossible.  In fact, the Beverly Hills Oil field continues to pump oil right in Beverly Hills, for the past 125 years.  Here's a pic of its hidden drilling rig

[Wingnut]

Cash, Ass, or Gas.  California doesn't ride for free.