Fire Shuts Down Most of Chevron’s El Segundo, CA, Refinery
The refinery has experienced four fires since 2016.
A massive fire broke out at Chevron’s El Segundo refinery’s jet production unit on Thursday night,
Chevron shut down the majority of the refinery, which is its second-largest refinery in the country and the “largest oil-producing site on the west coast.”
I thought I was gonna die at #TopGolf after a huge explosion went off at Chevron El Segundo Refinery. I ran from the top floor of TG to my car which was parked in the furthest lot and was one of the first on the road out of there. I’ll call them tomorrow to settle my tab 🙂 pic.twitter.com/J7p9qhXN9i
— Ash (@9021mobb) October 3, 2025
Massive explosion of an oil refinery near El Segundo LA pic.twitter.com/FswK48Ocja
— Sri Shenoy (@Sri_Shenoy) October 3, 2025
ALERTCalifornia cameras maintained by UC San Diego captured the initial explosion tonight at the Chevron El Segundo Oil Refinery right outside Los Angeles, which resulted in a large fire at the refinery, though authorities state that the fire is currently contained to only one… pic.twitter.com/JtoYwmSAQd
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) October 3, 2025
This was the view of the El Segundo Chevron refinery blaze from my neighborhood in Manhattan Beach. pic.twitter.com/I475JysGvd
— Norgard (@BrianNorgard) October 3, 2025
The El Segundo refinery is also California’s second-largest refinery.
Crews have contained the fire by 7 AM local time. Luckily, the explosion and fire did not kill or injure anyone.
The refinery has experienced four fires since 2016:
The last one happened back in 2022. During that incident, firefighters kept the fire confined to the refinery and nobody was hurt.
In 2018, a power failure triggered a burn-off at the facility. Black smoke could be seen for miles but there was never a threat to the public.
A year before that in 2017, a fire broke out near the storage tanks at the refinery. That was was put out in about an hour without any injuries.
And in 2016, a fire burned several storage containers at the refinery.
Chevron does not know the cause of the fire. A spokesperson said “it was too early to determine” if it would affect gas prices.
Well, as I said, it’s the largest oil producer in the West and California’s second-largest.
If the Chevron El Segundo refinery has to go offline for any amount of time, gas prices in CA, AZ, NV are going to soar.
Another complication: Philipps 66's LA refinery is closing this month – in 2024 it represented 8% of the state's crude oil capacity pic.twitter.com/69MF3KNOKP
— Jennifer Van Laar (@jenvanlaar) October 3, 2025
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Comments
Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded — here and there, now and then — are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from refining crude oil, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of California, the people then slip back into abject poverty.
This is known as “bad luck.”
Apologies to Heinlein.
I would say good but the rich progressives are insulated from any price hike.
What are the chances Chevron says it’s not financially viable to repair it?
No bet. Hard pass.
Not sure I understand your point.
Think “accidental ethnic lightning.”
Uh…what?
If you’re asking about the phrase, Google it.
If you’re asking how it can be accidental, the implication is that it was in fact accidental, but now that it’s happened, it’s a great excuse to cut and run instead of rebuilding.
A reference to “lightning” preceded by the name of the religion known for skull caps and walking on Saturdays. Arson.
Is the point that this is a good excuse to ditch California?
I guess it is but the refinery’s location in California was based on proximity to local and imported crude supplies. If there’s an oil supply coming from or into the area, that’s where the refinery will be built.
What is proximity vs a state government that sues energy producers for creating “climate change”? It’s nothing more than extortion. Oil and gas need to leave California and let them figure it out on their own. And if it hurts the middle class? Good. They voted for this shit let them take it without complaint.
It would be a good excuse to move to a friendlier jurisdiction and have insurance pay a lot of the new construction costs
I would almost lay money if someone at Chevron set the fire so they can collect insurance and get out quicker
That would be dependent on how extensive the damage is but this just might be the excuse they are looking for.
California Democrat hate oil and are determined to go all electric so what’s the big deal? This could be a good jumpstart.
It is interesting how Grewsome Newsom for so long has been pushing Fuel Companies out of California and suddenly said now he wanted them to stay in. I just find it so much to believe that this explosion was an accident.
Newsom and California will have their fuel costs rise high with taxes go up big. This is a nice win for Newsom as he gets a big payday to help with the budget debt without passing any bill. The California people pay but Dems do not care about people and the people there are still stupid to vote for the Dems.
California gasoline is a special blend to preserve the environment, so no replacements from outside will happen.
Either the price goes up to ration the supply, or gas lines form.
But I have been informed that much of Arizona’s petroleum stock also comes from California plants. Unlike California’s, it’s not a special blend… except for Maricopa County’s, which is somewhere between the two.
It’s my understanding that the Phoenix area gets 70% from California via the pipelines coming through Yuma and 30% from New Mexico and Texas. It comes through Tucson which usually has lower prices than Phoenix.
The main reason Tucson (actually, damn near everywhere except California) has lower prices than Phoenix is that Maricopa County requires a boutique blend of gasoline for “green” reasons. Those reasons appear to be purely federally imposed.
A refinery makes several custom blends of gasoline at the same time.
It is not A special blend. It is many many different blends who can change dependent upon where the station is in fairly close proximity to each other. The California air resources board has things so screwy that you might get one blend at a station drive another two or 3 miles down the road and get a different blend there because they have different pollution zones. It’s completely crazy.
Just pointing out that there have been several notable incidents of damage to refinery and energy infrastructure in the United States in recent years. But of course it is too early and irresponsible to mention the S word yet.
The “S” word? We have people in my town who cut public and private charging cables, not to steal the copper but to destroy the ability of people with E-vehicles to charge. The leftists then blame “kids” when we all known damned well whose doing it. It’s all a part of greater left wing domestic terrorism.
Ok. I’ll accept describing it as terrorism instead of sabotage. It’s the same thing really when it happens. If that’s what’s happening here.
Both interestingly French words. Now I’m not blaming the French directly for anything. Except inventing modern state bureaucratic terror.
Assuming the oil company is evaluating the economic decision to close the plant in the near future, there is an incentive to avoid the repairs needed for the facility to be in a top-notch condition,
How is it “the largest oil producer in the West and California’s second-largest”? Parse that sentence. Unless part of California is not “in the “West” I think something’s not quite right.
I just came here to say the same thing.
It could be the second largest in the West (behind one in another state) and largest in CA at the same time, but not the other way around.
And that’s in 1950s vintage CA public schools.
It’s garbled. The El Segundo refinery is the second largest in California just ahead of another Chevron facility. Both are much smaller than the largest, a Marathon facility in LA so it’s one of the largest in the west and the 14th in the US but 1/3 the size of several in Texas and Louisiana
I think they’re conflating this one refinery with all pf Chevron’s refineries in the region.
I wasn’t planning on being in LA anytime soon. I don’t care. I’m sure Newscum will be hat in hand begging President Trump for a handout.
Bonus: By the time this gets repaired and put back in service (asuming they don’t scrap it entirely), the Valero refinery will have shut down for good.
As noted above, CA’s regulations require a unique special blend that no refinery outside the State produces.
So, yeah, gas prices in the State will not just spike but find a “new normal “ at some higher plateau.
Zero chance also of any company looking to build a new refinery in CA.
I’m confused- is this another Chevron refinery, or an again at one of thec previously damaged facilities?
So how high will the price of gasoline reach in California and parts of the southwest? Surely at least $8. Probably around $10 a gallon for regular. How will the public react? Will they keep voting for Democrats? I suspect yes. The rest will emigrate to other states. Oh no, more congestion on Texas roads.
What makes you think that California is a stable and reliable contingent of the United States? Let’s put it this way: In a conflict between a Socialist People of Color seeking to throw off the last vestiges of supremicist colonization in Asia and a racist, rapacious, white supemicist facsist hegemon, which side do you think California will come down on??
CA under dem super majority one party rule. No new gasoline refinery construction has been permitted in decades in CA. Only smaller asphalt refineries.
Leftists want everybody to give up personal car, and get mugged on bus, or ride bicycle in rain, or become dependent on ride sharing service like Uber. Enjoy your ride in EV waymo self driving taxi, as punks spray paint the sensors while stopped at red light.
California is a test case for un restricted socialism, hope they enjoy 10$ gallon gas, lol
It is my understanding, which could easily be wrong, in California in anything but normal operating maintenance you are required to to upgrade a refinery to use the latest pollution reducing technology if there is any rebuild involved. That will make any return of the El Segundo refinery to operational status far, far more expensive; That would push Chevron towards shutting the thing down completely.
Subotai Bahadur