Massive fire at California refinery extinguished, anticipate a spike in gas prices

October 3, 2025

By KAREN VELIE

Firefighters extinguished a massive fire at an oil refinery in California on Friday afternoon. Because of the fire, gas prices are expected to rise 15 to 30 cents a gallon throughout the state.

The fire broke out Thursday evening at the Chevron oil refinery in El Segundo. The fire shot large flames and plumes of smoke into the sky which could be seen for miles. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

The Chevron refinery produces an estimated 20% of California’s gasoline and 40% of the state’s jet fuel. It is the state’s second largest oil refinery.

At an average of $4.64 a gallon, California already has the highest gas prices in the nation.

 


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It’s a good thing we Californians had the foresight in 2008 to approve the High Speed Rail! Just think how much it would cost in gas to go from LA to San Francisco if we didn’t have that cruising at 220mph between our two most populous cities! What? Oh, it’s not? Oh well, never mind. I hear that maybe in 2030 you can ride it between Madera and Bakersfield…


If only we had used the $20 billion we just sent to Argentina for, well, anything else energy related, green or not. America last, as per usual with Trump.


How typical to attempt to shift blame to those you dislike for the self-inflicted problems caused by those you support. A clear case of final stage TDS exacerbated by aluminum poisoning from an overly tight tinfoil hat. Sad…


Just in time for the winter blend… greed?…. California needs to focus on reducing the cost of gas… we are being ripped off due to actions from the legislature and our Governor…


what about the oil company that seems to do this every year


The oil companies don’t tax us to death for every gallon… they are a business with regulations to manage and their own taxes to pay… many refineries have just given up on California… if we lose one more expect to pay $9 a gallon… In fact with this one down we may see $9 per gallon until they are back up and operating…


Yes! The slow-motion train wreck begins! It’s the top of the roller coaster and all downhill from here.

California leadership has so completely mismanaged energy in this state, that now there is no path out of catastrophe.

We are about to have a gas shortage. We will have a strained supply or very high prices , or both. Lines…

Over in the electricity sector we are going to have expensive, limited supplies here too .

Mainly out of state providers will keep us on life support. Even if a plant or – God forbid a “ wind farm” were to begin today, it won’t be up and running for 15 to 20 years! Any old timers remember how long it took Diablo to get up and running after inception? I do… decades! And what else is different now? Oh yeah , the State and Fed are broke!

And how are water and insurance and healthcare looking around here these days?

…… We’re so cooked it’s unbelievable. At least the current leadership in this state is done. Destroyed by their own foolish policies.

Stand by for heavy turbulence straight ahead. The ride is about to get very interesting.


Yeah, it’s like CA admin was all about shutting down Diablo Canyon, at 10% of CA electricity generation, until PG&E said “yeah, Diablo’s losing money so we’re shutting it down!”


Then CA gov is like “No!!! You Can’t shut Diablo down!! Here’s $2 BILLION! Please keep Diablo open!!! N PG&E sez “OK, fine”…


Refineries will similarly soon have CAGOV by the same short hairs, all because of CAGOV stupidity…


Because Dems are malignant dumb – no clue how the real world works.


Newscum’s war on oil has reduced California’s operating refineries from over 30 to less than a dozen in less than a decade, with 2 more scheduled for closure in less than 2 years. So accidents like this guarantee that CA, with the highest gas prices – and taxes – in the nation, will suffer even more. Ca government stupidity, and voter stupidity, gets the punishment it deserves.


Or you could say tRumps war on green energy has prevented us from having an alternative cheap source of energy….


Or you could say the last election was a step towards restoring consumer choice in energy selection, rather than governments trying to force adoption of allegedly “green” uneconomic, unsustainable, unreliable, immature alternative energy technologies. Why not let the marketplace decide? It generally does a good job!


Most if us don’t LIKE having inferior tech shoved up our bums because some apparatachik thinks it’s “good for us”. But I recognize that some actually enjoy that sorta thing…


Trump has nothing to do with how fuct California is regarding energy. Even you know this much.


Wind and solar will never be dependable… I don’t care how much money you pump into it…


Yup, elections have consequences!


..in accordance with whatever the voting machine decides to do, that is.


Some of you still aren’t understanding. Bad times are ahead regardless of any “New Green Deal” stuff or not. This is a California made mess. Not a national one.


Always