Chevron fire shuts El Segundo refinery units

Chevron has extinguished a large fire at its El Segundo refinery after an evening explosion in a jet fuel unit forced multiple processing units offline. No injuries were reported, and all personnel were accounted for, the company said.

Chevron’s 285,000-barrel-per-day El Segundo refinery, the second largest in California and the company’s second-biggest in the U.S., took several units offline on Friday following a major blaze that began on Thursday night in the Isomax 7 unit, which upgrades mid-distillates into jet fuel.

Consultancy data cited by traders indicated shutdowns at the 60,000 bpd catalytic reformer, the 45,000 bpd hydrocracker and the 73,000 bpd fluid catalytic cracker, while crude distillation units remained online. Chevron confirmed the fire was out and said all workers and contractors had been accounted for.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said there was no known impact on the Los Angeles International Airport. LAX declined to comment. The refinery supplies roughly a fifth of California’s motor fuels and about 40% of jet fuel consumed in southern California, including LAX.

Market participants expect aviation to feel the sharper pinch. Analysts said jet fuel prices jumped about 33 cents per gallon on Friday afternoon, while California petrol prices are seen rising modestly, by roughly 5 to 15 cents per gallon for now, as the main petrol-making unit was not directly affected. California’s nearly 28 million drivers were already paying close to $4.70 per gallon on Friday, compared with a national average under $3.22.

To cover lost output, traders said California will likely pull in more jet fuel cargoes from Asian refiners, particularly South Korea, Taiwan and Japan. The Long Beach area had recently been receiving around 45,000 to 50,000 bpd of jet imports and may need at least one additional shipment in the coming weeks.

The incident lands as the state’s refining system faces tighter balances over the coming months. Phillips 66 is winding down its 139,000 bpd Los Angeles-area refinery for permanent closure, and Valero’s Benicia refinery is set to close in April 2026. Together, those plants produce about one-fifth of California’s petrol supply. Analysts said the El Segundo fire could amplify the pre-existing tightness and support regional fuel prices as operators and buyers prepare for the December shutdown.

Local officials reported no evacuation orders for neighbouring residents, though Manhattan Beach advised a shelter-in-place until 2 a.m. Social media videos showed a large fireball and an orange sky over western Los Angeles as safety flares were activated to burn off hydrocarbons that could not be processed normally.

State and federal safety agencies said they will investigate the cause of the explosion and fire. El Segundo last reported an isolated fire in December 2022. Industry trackers noted several U.S. refinery incidents in 2025. The facility’s total storage capacity is about 12.5 million barrels across roughly 150 major tanks, though sources could not confirm current jet fuel inventories.

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