Houston-based Phillips 66 Co. announced Oct. 16 that it will close its major oil refinery complex in Wilmington and Carson in the fourth quarter of next year, ending a refining operation that extends back more than a century.
The refinery complex, which consists of two major refining facilities on 650 acres in both Wilmington and Carson, has the capacity to produce 165 million barrels of refined product per day. (One barrel contains 42 gallons of product). It employs about 600 people full-time and up to 300 contract workers.
In its closure announcement, Phillips 66 Chief Executive Mark Lashier cited uncertain future market conditions in California.
Just this week, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill requiring refineries to always keep on hand a minimum amount of refined fuel in reserve to reduce the severity of shortage-driven price spikes. The oil industry, through its trade organization Western States Petroleum Association, protested the legislation, saying that diverting refined fuel to reserves would result in more price increases.
Over the longer term, the state has committed to ending the sale of new gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035.
Lashier in the closure announcement said that despite the refinery closure, Phillips 66 would “continue to take the necessary steps to meet our commercial and customer demands,” in the state. This could include bringing in refined fuel from other states or from other oil refining companies.
He also said the company will work with the employees at the refining facilities to help them through the transition period. In a separate announcement, Tim McOsker, the Los Angeles City Councilman representing the Wilmington area, pledged city resources to assist the employees in finding other jobs.
As for the refinery facility sites, Phillips 66 said in its closure announcement that it has hired Catellus Development Corp. and Deca Cos., two real estate development companies, to evaluate future uses for the sites.
“These sites offer an opportunity to create a transformational project that can support the environment, generate economic development, create jobs and improve the region’s critical infrastructure,” Lashier said.
The Wilmington refining facility was built in 1919; the Carson facility in 1923. Both were operated by Union Oil of California. The two refineries went through a series of ownership changes, culminating in 2001 when Phillips Petroleum Co. purchased them for $6.9 billion from Tosco Corp. Phillips spun off its refining operations in 2012 under the name Phillips 66.
