Fire breaks out at Chevron's El Segundo refinery in Los Angeles

A fire has broken out at Chevron’s El Segundo refinery in Los Angeles County, California Governor Gavin Newsom’s press office announced on Thursday via X.

Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass stated that the city’s fire department is prepared to provide assistance if needed, noting that “there is no known impact to LAX at this time,” in reference to the city’s international airport.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the cause of the incident remains unclear, while CBS reported that police and firefighters rushed to the site following reports of an explosion.

El Segundo police said they were not aware of any immediate injuries or evacuations of people from the area.

No injuries were reported and all workers at the refinery were accounted for, Chevron spokesperson Allison Cook said in an email. Media said the blaze had been contained, though it was still burning early on Friday.

Chevron's second-biggest refinery in the United States, the El Segundo facility supplies a fifth of all motor vehicle fuels and 40% of the jet fuel consumed in southern California.

Local stunned by the noise of the blast 

The fire broke out in the refinery's Isomax 7 unit, which converts mid-distillate fuel oil into jet fuel, two sources said.

Local officials said no evacuation orders were issued for nearby residents, some of whom live in apartment buildings across the street from the refinery.

Residents of Manhattan Beach, located southwest of the refinery, were told to shelter in place until 2 a.m.

Los Angeles residents posted numerous videos of the fire online, saying they were stunned by the noise of the blast. A University of California-San Diego camera captured video of the explosion shortly after 9:30 p.m. PDT (0430 GMT).

The fireball when the fire erupted turned the sky orange in the western Los Angeles area as did the refinery's safety flare, which was set off due to the blaze.

Impact on refinery's production

It was unclear how it would affect the refinery’s ability to produce jet fuel, and whether wider output had been affected.

U.S. WTI crude futures prices were trading up 22 cents at $60.70 per barrel at 1136 GMT on Friday, on course for a weekly loss of more than 7%. 

The fire is unlikely to have a large impact on the wider oil market, two analysts told Reuters, but California gasoline prices could rise as the state's fuel market is isolated from other U.S. refining centres in the Midwest and on the Gulf Coast.

If supply is affected, the California market could draw fuel imports from northeast Asia refiners in South Korea, Taiwan and Japan, Asian trade sources said.

Northeast Asia has sent 90,000 barrels per day of jet fuel to the U.S. West Coast region so far this year versus 112,000 bpd in 2024, Kpler data showed.

Chevron’s website states that the refinery has a processing capacity of 290,000 barrels per day, primarily producing petrol, jet fuel and diesel, with a total storage capacity of 12.5 million barrels across around 150 major tanks.

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