Home Care In Benicia, CA

In a rare move to safeguard California’s fuel supply, state officials are actively seeking a buyer for Valero Energy’s Benicia refinery, according to a report Wednesday from Reuters citing sources familiar with the matter.

Valero, the nation’s second-largest refiner by capacity, plans to close the 145,000-barrel-per-day facility by April 2026. The closure reflects declining fuel demand in the state and growing regulatory pressure on fossil fuel producers.

But with gasoline prices in California already the highest in the nation — averaging $4.484 per gallon Wednesday compared with a national average of $3.155, according to AAA — the state is taking steps to prevent further market disruption.

Valero did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Benicia city officials declined to comment.

The California Energy Commission is quietly facilitating talks with potential buyers in a bid to keep the refinery operational, according to the Reuters report.

“CEC is engaging with market players to explore pathways for the continued operation of in-state refineries,” the agency said in a statement to Reuters.

In a more detailed statement to the Chronicle on Wednesday, the commission emphasized that its efforts extend beyond a single facility and are part of a larger transition plan for California’s fuel supply system.

“CEC has been and is actively supporting conversations with a variety of market players to discuss pathways to address the impacts of the closure intent announcements of the Phillips 66 refinery in Wilmington and Valero refinery in Benicia,” the agency said. “CEC’s goal, as part of a statewide transition strategy, is to support a stable and affordable fuel supply, including by promoting resilience in the transportation fuels system and a prudent cushion in fuel supply to mitigate impacts of refinery outages.”

The move signals a notable shift for a state long committed to aggressive climate goals. In recent years, California has prioritized the transition to renewable energy, pushing to shutter traditional refineries — a policy that has often put the state at odds with oil companies.

The planned Benicia closure follows Phillips 66’s decision last year to shut its Los Angeles-area refinery. Together, the two facilities account for roughly 17% of the state’s gasoline supply. Analysts warn that losing both could drive pump prices as high as $6 to $8 per gallon, a UC Davis study said.

According to the report, among the parties contacted by the state is HF Sinclair, which had previously held talks with Valero before negotiations fell apart over an environmental issue. It said the Energy Commission has also reached out to European operators familiar with stringent emissions standards, the report said.

Valero employs approximately 400 people in Benicia, ranking among the city’s top employers. It also stands as Benicia’s largest taxpayer and a significant contributor to local charitable efforts.

On the same day news broke that California officials are trying to find a buyer for Valero’s Benicia refinery, authorities responded to intermittent flaring at the facility.

According to the Benicia Fire Department, the flaring began Wednesday after a unit was restarted after routine maintenance. Valero attributed the event to a “mechanical issue” with its nitrogen plant and said it would continue for several hours while the situation was monitored.

“We currently do not anticipate any off-site health impacts,” fire officials said in a social media post.

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District confirmed it was investigating the incident, responding to complaints and monitoring for possible air quality violations.

Flaring, the controlled burning of excess gases, is a standard safety measure at refineries to relieve pressure and prevent explosions.

The facility has had other problems in recent months, most notably when a significant fire broke out May 5, prompting a shelter-in-place notification for nearby residents. Firefighters brought the blaze under control about an hour later.

The potential closure of the Valero refinery in Benicia highlights key gaps in California’s energy transition strategy: a lack of planning for fuel supply disruptions and inadequate support for workers during the phaseout of fossil fuels.

While gas prices have received a lot of attention from state policymakers, refinery workers and communities deserve equal consideration. California urgently needs a just transition plan so they aren’t left behind.

Energy transition is well underway. Valero is not the first planned refinery closure announced in California, and it won’t be the last. Last year, Phillips 66 announced it was preparing to shutter its refining complex in Los Angeles, and the company closed its Santa Maria (Santa Barbara County) refinery in 2023. In 2020, the Marathon oil refinery in Martinez closed before later reopening as a biofuel refinery with just a fraction of its former workforce. And this isn’t just a California trend: refinery margins are down globally, and closures are happening in other states as well — even in Texas.

The abrupt pace of refinery closures has California scrambling to avoid fuel shortages and price spikes at the pump, but closures should come as no surprise. Like many other states and countries, California has enacted greenhouse gas reduction policies to mitigate the increasingly costly and dangerous impacts of climate change. Cutting emissions requires reducing demand for gasoline and diesel — the state’s largest sources of emissions and the main products that California’s refineries produce. According to the California Energy Commission, by 2045, state demand for petroleum fuels may fall so low that only one or two refineries will be needed.

California does not have a strategy for helping refinery workers and communities when a facility closes. As a result, closures have been devastating. We documented the experiences of workers laid off from Marathon’s Martinez refinery in 2020: one year out, 26% were still unemployed, and workers who had secured new jobs took an average 24% pay cut. Workers reported serious financial and mental health challenges, and some had to relocate. In one worker’s words: “My world came tumbling down.” These challenges will only accumulate as additional facilities shutter.

Refinery closures may be inevitable for reducing emissions, but we can prevent their harmful impacts. After the Marathon layoffs, environmental justice leaders and refinery unions in Contra Costa County formed a partnership, with the UC Berkeley Labor Center lending research support, to devise a transition that could address their common needs and concerns.

The partnership developed a common-sense road map for California to prepare for future refinery closures. First, we need a robust safety net for laid-off workers, including a financial bridge to retirement for older employees. Wage replacement and benefit assistance are crucial for those forced to restart in lower-paying jobs, along with retraining, job search support and trusted case management.

California’s existing workforce programs are insufficient for supporting these highly skilled workers as they transition to new jobs and industries. Workers laid off from Marathon reported that the state’s job search system offered them no meaningful help. Clunky databases identified “forklift operator” job openings as a match for their “refinery operator” skills and experience. The state’s Displaced Oil and Gas Worker Fund is a move in the right direction, supporting several promising pilot projects targeting the needs of workers in the refinery sector, but it’s not enough.

Second, refineries need to pitch in. Pre-closure, employers should submit transition plans that, at minimum, guarantee internal transfers to minimize layoffs (a standard best practice in many industries) and adequate staffing during transitions. When closing shop, refineries must safely decommission and fully clean up their toxic sites. The state should assess the contamination and ensure that oil companies — not taxpayers — pay all cleanup costs. Past examples suggest that companies may seek to avoid or minimize cleanup responsibilities, such as through bankruptcy or negotiating with regulators for reduced remediation standards. Communities should drive decision-making about cleanup standards and future uses for refinery sites.

Third, as refineries plan for closure, oversight must continue. Executives may skip essential maintenance or allow dangerous understaffing as they scale down, which can lead to major disasters like the recent fire at Valero that threatened public health and worker safety. As disinvestment increases these risks, lawmakers should reject attempts by the oil lobby to roll back air pollution regulations and refinery safety standards.

Guest opinions in Open Forum and Insight are produced by writers with expertise, personal experience or original insights on a subject of interest to our readers. Their views do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Chronicle editorial board, which is committed to providing a diversity of ideas to our readership.

Finally, California must proactively support workers and communities when preparing for refinery closures. This includes replacing lost tax revenue to ensure public services are maintained. The state should prioritize refinery regions for economic development, supporting new industries that will generate quality, union jobs that make good use of refinery workers’ skills. Our recent report offers a practical framework for ways to ensure that new industries meet community needs, expand economic opportunities and reduce local pollution.

As the state navigates the energy transition, it needs a clear and comprehensive plan to provide real support for refinery workers and communities affected by closures. We know what is needed to make a just transition a reality; now we just need to make it happen.

Jessie HF Hammerling is co-director of the UC Berkeley Labor Center’s Green Economy Program. Virginia Parks is a professor in the Department of Urban Planning and Public Policy at UC Irvine.

Top of the News

One person was dead and several others were missing Wednesday after a fireworks facility in Northern California exploded on Tuesday and triggered a large fire, Cal Fire authorities said.

Legal Insurrection readers may recall that last year, Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law a measure ordering energy producers to stockpile gasoline, despite pushback from industry.

Soon after, Phillips 66 announced plans to stop operations at its Los Angeles-area refinery in the fourth quarter of 2025. Meanwhile, energy giant Chevron moved its headquarters to Texas, citing high taxes and burdensome regulations.

Valero Energy Corporation then announced plans to close its Benicia oil refinery, located just northeast of San Francisco, by the end of April 2026.

This facility, which processes between 145,000 and 170,000 barrels of crude oil per day, has been a significant economic engine for the city of Benicia and a major supplier of gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and asphalt for the California market. It is also the exclusive supplier of jet fuel to nearby Travis Air Force Base.

Now, this sequence of events was entirely foreseeable to anyone with a modicum of common sense. However, these are California Democratic politicians making the rules in Sacramento….and the only sense they have perfected is one of entitlement.

At one point, California policymakers discussed state ownership of these refineries. After reviewing all the potential paths to failure inherent with this plan, I concluded:

If you consider California’s response to wildfires and its complete ineptitude in constructing the “bullet train”, the very reasonable concerns about California’s historical inefficiencies in its government-run programs (especially over the last 20 years) and the potential for increased costs and logistical challenges should put a pause on this mad-cap scheme.

Now, California politicos may also be developing a new sense: Regret. They are desperately seeking a buyer for the Benicia refinery.

California government officials are trying to find a buyer for Valero Energy’s (VLO.N) Benicia refinery near San Francisco, three sources familiar with the matter said, an unusual effort as the clock ticks down on the company’s planned closure of the facility in April.

The rare attempt by a state government to broker the sale of privately-owned infrastructure reflects its growing concerns over protecting fuel supplies in the most populous U.S. state and keeping a lid on prices, where California’s nearly 28 million drivers already pay among the highest prices for gasoline in the country.

California’s effort to save the refinery from closing also marks a shift from the focus of government policy in recent years to champion green initiatives and restrict fossil fuel usage, that has led to an often tense relationship between the state and oil companies, including the second-largest U.S. refiner by capacity.

The state’s primary energy and policy planning agency, the California Energy Commission (CEC), has actively sought buyers for the plant, three sources told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations.

California is learning that actions have consequences.

"In rare move, California steps in to find buyer for Valero refinery to avoid closure, sources say"

While the state works day in and day out to destroy oil and gas companies, CA will now have to deal with the consequences… pic.twitter.com/neyu6T07l3

— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) July 24, 2025

This may be the first small step California is taking away from the edge of the Net Zero cliff.

The move signals a notable shift for a state long committed to aggressive climate goals. In recent years, California has prioritized the transition to renewable energy, pushing to shutter traditional refineries — a policy that has often put the state at odds with oil companies.

The planned Benicia closure follows Phillips 66’s decision last year to shut its Los Angeles-area refinery. Together, the two facilities account for roughly 17% of the state’s gasoline supply. Analysts warn that losing both could drive pump prices as high as $6 to $8 per gallon, a UC Davis study said.

According to the report, among the parties contacted by the state is HF Sinclair, which had previously held talks with Valero before negotiations fell apart over an environmental issue. It said the Energy Commission has also reached out to European operators familiar with stringent emissions standards, the report said.

As the rest of the country moves away from adopting California policies, and in light of the fact that the technologies to achieve “Net Zero” are simply not yet available, this is a rare hopeful sign that this destructive policy will run out of steam.

Imagine having to explain $8/gallon gasoline to California voters over the next couple of November elections… when everyone else is paying around $3 (or even less, if Trump’s energy policies are spectacularly successful).

The stakes are particularly high. State modeling suggests that removing Benicia from the refining system could push pump prices toward $8 per gallon, particularly during summer demand peaks. Analysts warn that the closures could also reduce fuel inventories and strain supply chains across the western U.S.

Pair this with cleaned-up Voter Rolls and a successful Voter ID initiative, and the results could be most astonishing.

BREAKING:???? California voters dropped from 26.9 million to 25.7 million.

Ineligible illegal voters are being removed from California voter rolls.

We are flipping California.

We are cleaning the California voter rolls????????@EndWokeness @libsoftiktok pic.twitter.com/nVXIIo2wuh

— Shiloh Marx (@Shilohmarx) July 25, 2025

Meanwhile, I hope everyone has a good laugh…once again…at my current home state. While I don’t like it, I understand.

You would have to have a heart of granite encased in titanium not to laugh: https://t.co/gkJoH9Bf89

— Leslie Eastman ? (@Mutnodjmet) July 25, 2025

DONATE