Multiple refineries in California have recently declared their intentions to shutter operations, leaving the Golden State uncertain about future fuel supplies and impacts on prices at the pump.

Valero Energy Corp. was the latest to make such an announcement, alerting the California Energy Commission (CEC) last month that it would "idle, restructure or cease refining operations" at its Benicia refinery by the end of April 2026.

The Valero notice followed similar news at Phillips 66 in October, when that company said it would be ceasing operations at its Los Angeles-area refinery in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Firms are attributing these decisions to the restrictive regulatory environment in California, which is home to the nation's biggest car market, despite an unparalleled clean energy push.

"We know that California gasoline consumption is going to decline over time," Severin Borenstein, an economist at the University of California, Berkeley, told The Hill.

"We are going to have exit, and we need to figure out — how are we going to handle that exit?" Borenstein continued.

Following Valero's announcement that it would be reducing or closing operations at Benicia, in the northern San Francisco Bay Area, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) reportedly sent a letter to the CEC, directing the regulators to guarantee reliable fuel supplies.

The letter instructed the CEC to "redouble the state's efforts to work closely with refiners," as well as offer changes to the state's fuel management strategies by........

© The Hill