The West Coast is particularly vulnerable to spikes in gasoline prices because it’s not well-connected to the refineries along the Gulf Coast, where most of the country’s refining capacity is located, analysts say.
The Chevron refinery is particularly big and important to the West Coast market, said Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at Oil Price Information Service.
It produces about 150,000 barrels of gasoline a day — 16 percent of the region’s daily gasoline consumption of 963,000 barrels, he said.
California’s average price Tuesday for a gallon of regular gasoline was $3.86. But with inventories in the region already low compared with the rest of the country, pump prices along the West Coast will soon average more than $4 a gallon, Kloza said.
Chevron spokesman Lloyd Avram said he did not have an update on when the refinery could be restarted and declined to comment on what kind of impact the shutdown might have on the gasoline market.
“Spot prices have already increased by as much as 30 cents per gallon in some West Coast markets and that’s before the refinery damage has been fully assessed,” said analyst Patrick DeHaan of the website GasBuddy.com.
The fire began around 6:15 p.m. Monday in the refinery’s No. 4 Crude Unit, about two hours after a vapor leak of hydrocarbons similar to diesel, said Heather Kulp, a Chevron spokeswoman.
“At approximately 6:30 p.m., the volume increased and personnel evacuated the area,” she said at a news conference. “The hydrocarbon vapor then ignited and a fire occurred.”
Kulp said there were no explosions, and staff at the refinery initiated an emergency response immediately after the fire started. The cause is under investigation.
The black smoke and flames could be seen miles away from the refinery, which has been the target of complaints and lawsuits by people who live near it in Richmond, a mostly low-income community with five major oil refineries.
Mayor Gayle McLaughlin said the fire was unacceptable.
“We live with the day-to-day risk of this type of manufacturing and refining that has an impact on our community with pollutants being released, but with the accident that happened yesterday, that doesn’t mean it’s acceptable, because it’s not,” McLaughlin said in a KCBS radio interview.
Emotions ran high during a Tuesday night community meeting in Richmond, where hundreds of people booed and shouted as a panel of Chevron and local officials tried to address the crowd.
“I can assure you I have the utmost respect for this community,” Nigel Hearne, the general manager of the refinery, said as the heckling intensified.