Valero will increase fuel imports to California following its scheduled closure of the Benicia refinery, the company said this week in an update.
The Benicia refinery is due to shut down in April this year as California energy policies made the continued operation of the facility problematic. Last year, the refiner reported a combined pre-tax impairment charge of $1.1 billion for its California operations. The impairment was recorded for the Benicia and Wilmington refineries.
“We understand the impact that this may have on our employees, business partners, and community, and will continue to work with them through this period,” said Lane Riggs, Chairman, CEO and President of Valero, in April 2025.
Valero’s Benicia refinery, northeast of San Francisco, has a throughput capacity of 170,000 barrels per day, while the Wilmington refinery in the area of Los Angeles has a throughput capacity of 135,000 bpd.
Valero’s decision to shut one of its two refineries in California comes on the heels of other refinery closures in the state, which is pursuing increased regulation on emissions and the sale of gasoline vehicles. The other closure will be of Phillips 66’s Los Angeles refinery, with the company citing uncertainty about the business’s long-term sustainability.
The closure of Valero’s Benicia refinery will remove 2.2 billion gallons of gasoline supply from the California market, media reported in late 2025, noting this would likely increase prices at the pump for California drivers even further. In addition to the supply loss, the city of Benicia will lose some $11 million annually in property taxes, reports from last November also said.
The Energy Information Administration estimated last year that the United States could see a 3% decline in its refining capacity at the end of 2025, to a total of 17.9 million barrels daily.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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