Another One Bites The Dust

May 30th, 2025:Product carriers gain from another California refinery closure Last year, we wrote a Tanker Opinion titled “Another Refinery Retires”, triggered by the announcement of Phillips 66, the 4th largest refiner in the U.S., to cease crude oil processing operations at its 138,700 b/d dual-sited refinery in Los Angeles, California. Last month, another refinery closure was announced. Valero Energy said that it would cease operations at its 170,000 barrel per day (b/d) Benicia refinery in the San Francisco area. Just like Phillips 66 last year, Valero points to a challenging regulatory environment, high operating costs and new state legislation as reasons for their decision. This comes on top of limited prospects for oil demand growth on the U.S. West Coast (USWC). It appears that refining capacity on the USWC is closing faster than demand is declining, which can potentially boost refined product imports and improves the prospects for product tankers in the Pacific. Please fill in below form to continue read.