Third-Party News & Reports

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (October 2018)

The enclosed Report to Congress on Shipping Crude Oil by Truck, Rail, and Pipeline is submitted pursuant to the Fiscal Year 2016 Senate Appropriations Report, which requests that the U.S. Department of Transportation analyze and report on the comparative safety of shipping crude oil by truck, rail, and pipeline. Read more...

 U.S. Energy Information Administration (July 2025) 

California is set to lose 17% of its oil refinery capacity over the next 12 months because of two planned refinery closures. If realized, the closure of the facilities is likely to contribute to increases in fuel price volatility on the West Coast. Phillips 66 announce plans last October to close its 139,000-barrel-per-day (b/d) Wilmington refinery in the Los Angeles area later this year. Valero submitted a notice in April to end refining operations at its 145,000-b/d Benicia refinery in the Bay Area by the end of April 2026.  Read more...

Senator Ruben Gallego, D-AZ (March 2026) 

I write to express serious concern regarding the supply of refined fuels in Arizona. Over the past month, gasoline prices have risen sharply. The statewide average for regular gasoline is $4.33 per gallon, up from $3.14 per gallon a month ago.  Read more...

 Arizona Daily Independent (April 2025) 

 With Valero announcing the pending closure of one of its two remaining California refineries, the state will lose at least 18% of its current refining capacity by the end of 2026.  Because California is an “energy island,” meeting demand for California and the parts of Nevada and Arizona that rely on its refineries will require costly imports of volatile fuel by emissions-heavy tanker ships.  Read more...

Union of Concerned Scientists (June 2025)

 Over the last year, two California oil refineries, Phillips 66 in Los Angeles and Valero in Benicia, have announced their plans to shut down. These unexpected closures add urgency to the process of planning for an orderly transition from gasoline to renewable electricity as California’s primary transportation fuel. Read more...

RBN Energy (October 2025)

Less than two months after ONEOK unveiled plans for a big new refined products pipeline from El Paso to Phoenix, Phillips 66 and Kinder Morgan have proposed an even more extensive project of their own that would enable refined products flows from the St. Louis area to Southern California.  Read more...

Stillwater Associates (October 2025)

Just a month ago, we explored the possibility of a Sun Belt Connector pipeline– now, we have another potential pipeline project seeking to reshape Western fuel logistics. Kinder Morgan, Inc. and Phillips 66 have announced the binding open season for an ambitious new refined products corridor: the Western Gateway Pipeline. Read more...

OPIS (A Dow Jones Company) (January 2026) 

Arizona and Nevada are taking steps to break away from a decades-long dependence on California fuel as the Golden State experiences refinery closures and becomes increasingly dependent on gasoline imports that can take weeks to secure and ship. Read more...