Thirty years in the past, Willie Cruz was shocked when he discovered the Southern California oil refinery the place he labored was shutting down.
Cruz, now a 61-year-old residing in Arizona, had spent 5 years working within the environmental division when Powerine Oil Firm stated it might shut the plant in Santa Fe Springs, southeast of Los Angeles.
Cruz feared getting laid off once more if he stayed within the trade. He determined to look into respiratory remedy, partly as a result of he’s asthmatic. A federal job coaching program paid for his education.
“I assumed it was fairly cool, you already know — go from polluting to serving to, proper?” Cruz stated.
Now he’s advising his son, Wilfredo Cruz, because the Phillips 66 refinery in Los Angeles the place the 37-year-old has labored for 12 years plans to shut by the top of the month.
1000’s — maybe tens of 1000’s — of staff may lose jobs within the coming years as California tries to scale back its reliance on fossil fuels. Vitality firm Valero stated earlier this 12 months it might shut a refinery within the Bay Space.
California’s main Democrats are grappling with methods to confront misplaced jobs and excessive fuel costs that the oil trade says are the results of the state’s local weather insurance policies.
State vitality regulators are negotiating to maintain the Valero plant open and not too long ago backed off a proposal to penalize oil companies for top earnings, whereas Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed laws to hurry oil properly allowing within the Central Valley. That motion got here after years of Newsom declaring he was “taking over large oil.”
That inconsistent messaging has left the trade’s staff not sure of what the long run holds.
Refinery closures
California was the eighth-largest crude oil producer within the nation in 2024, down from being the third-largest in 2014, in line with the U.S. Vitality Data Administration. The Valero and Phillips 66 refineries set to shut account for roughly 18% of California’s refining capability, in line with state vitality regulators. They each produce jet gasoline, fuel and diesel.
The Phillips 66 refinery will begin shutting down this month and finish energetic gasoline manufacturing on the finish of 2025, the corporate stated. The closure relies on a number of elements and “in response to market dynamics,” Phillips 66 stated.
The announcement got here after Newsom signed a legislation final 12 months aimed toward preventing gas price spikes that permits vitality regulators to require that refineries hold a specific amount of gasoline readily available to keep away from shortages after they go offline for upkeep. However the firm stated its choice was unrelated to the legislation.
Phillips 66 stated it’s “dedicated to treating all our refinery staff pretty and respectfully all through this course of.”
Valero introduced plans to “idle, restructure or stop refining operations” at its refinery within the Bay Space metropolis of Benicia by the top of April. The corporate didn’t reply to emails looking for touch upon the standing of its plans.
Valero pays about $7.7 million yearly in taxes to the town, making up round 13% of Benicia’s revenues, Metropolis Supervisor Mario Giuliani stated.
“It’s a major and seismic influence to the town,” he stated of the deliberate closure.
Forty-six oil refineries in California closed between 2018 and 2024, in line with the state’s Employment Improvement Division. The fossil gasoline trade employs roughly 94,000 individuals within the state, in line with the Public Coverage Institute of California.
One examine estimated that the state would lose almost 58,000 staff within the oil and fuel industries between 2021 and 2030. About 56% of these staff should discover new jobs as a result of they don’t seem to be retiring, in line with the 2021 report by the Political Financial system Analysis Institute on the College of Massachusetts Amherst.
Supporting displaced staff
Lawmakers accepted the Displaced Oil and Fuel Employee Fund in 2022 to assist staff obtain profession coaching and join with job alternatives. The state has since awarded almost $30 million general to a number of teams to assist staff throughout the state — from oil-rich Kern County to Contra Costa County within the Bay Space.
However the funding is about to expire in 2027, and state lawmakers wrapped up their work for the 12 months with out an settlement on whether or not to increase it.
Newsom spokesperson Daniel Villaseñor stated the governor is dedicated to supporting displaced oil staff “and affected communities in transitioning into new and rising jobs and financial alternatives.”
Newsom accepted $20 million within the state’s 2022-2023 finances for a pilot program to coach staff within the trade who’ve misplaced their jobs to plug abandoned oil wells in Kern and Los Angeles counties.
California wants a transparent plan for staff who will lose jobs due to the state’s vitality transition, stated Faraz Rizvi, the coverage and marketing campaign supervisor on the Asian Pacific Environmental Community.
“We’re in solidarity with staff who’ve been displaced and who’re in search of a aid to make sure that they’re capable of finding work that’s essential for his or her communities,” Rizvi stated.
However Jodie Muller, president and CEO of the Western States Petroleum Affiliation, stated the state can defend jobs by altering its local weather insurance policies.
“The extremists preventing to shut California refineries ought to clarify why they’re OK with destroying among the finest blue-collar jobs on the market — as a result of we actually are usually not,” she stated in an announcement.
Life as an oil employee
For a lot of staff, the trade affords a chance to earn a residing wage and not using a school diploma.
Wilfredo Cruz was attracted partly by the paycheck. After greater than a decade, he makes a base wage of $118,000 a 12 months as a pipe fitter on the Phillips 66 refinery.
However there are downsides.
Day by day when Cruz will get dwelling from work, he showers instantly to attempt to protect his son from publicity to any dangerous chemical compounds. He additionally by no means lets the 2-year-old trip within the automotive he takes to work.
Now he’s enrolled in a web-based cybersecurity coaching course, education paid for by the state program that’s set to run out within the subsequent couple of years.
“There’s probably not an actual clear plan to have the ability to get staff from this oil trade into these new fields,” he stated. “So, you’re feeling type of forgotten.”
AP Photograph/Jae C. Hong
