On Thursday night, a fire broke out at Chevron's refinery in El Segundo. While the fire broke out in the refinery’s 7 unit, which converts mid-distillate fuel oil into jet fuel, it’s left many wondering what kind of impact it’s going to have on gas prices.
The fire also comes as California is losing two more refineries over the next few months - one in the Wilmington neighborhood and one in Bay Area.
Gas Buddy’s Petroleum analyst Matt McClain said drivers can expect an increase.
“That refinery produces up to 20% of the fuel across Southern California that's used and up to 40% of the jet fuel that is used across Southern California comes from that refinery as well,” he said
But McClain said this isn't a reason for drivers to be topping off their tank right now.
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“Just because that refinery does 20%, well, that still means there's 80% out there,” he said. “There's no reason to actually exacerbate the situation by going and trying to top off and creating a huge surge in the need for wholesale gasoline at this particular point in time. You need gas today, get it. If you don't, don't. If you need it tomorrow, get it. If you don't, don't. That's the really rule of thumb that you want to look at, especially in the coming days as Chevron's trying to figure out the extent of the damage.”
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
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