By Nicole Jao, David French and Shariq Khan
NEW YORK (Reuters) -California authorities officers are looking for a purchaser for Valero Power’s Benicia refinery close to San Francisco, three sources aware of the matter mentioned, an uncommon effort because the clock ticks down on the corporate’s deliberate closure of the power in April.
The uncommon try by a state authorities to dealer the sale of privately-owned infrastructure displays its rising considerations over defending gas provides in probably the most populous U.S. state and maintaining a lid on costs, the place California’s almost 28 million drivers already pay among the many highest costs for gasoline within the nation.
California’s effort to avoid wasting the refinery from closing additionally marks a shift from the main focus of presidency coverage lately to champion inexperienced initiatives and limit fossil gas utilization, that has led to an usually tense relationship between the state and oil firms, together with the second-largest U.S. refiner by capability.
The state’s major power and coverage planning company, the California Power Fee (CEC), has actively sought patrons for the plant, three sources instructed Reuters, talking on situation of anonymity to debate non-public deliberations.
The CEC declined to say whether or not it’s engaged straight with patrons for the power however acknowledged it’s working to make sure the power stays open.
“CEC is participating with market gamers to discover pathways for the continued operation of in-state refineries,” the company mentioned in an emailed assertion.
Valero, which studies earnings on Thursday, didn’t reply to remark requests.
Earlier this yr, Valero introduced its intention to stop operations by April 2026 on the 145,000-barrel-per-day San Francisco-area refinery amid worries about California’s declining gas provides and excessive gasoline costs.
The San Antonio, Texas-based refiner can also be reviewing whether or not to proceed operations at the remainder of its refineries in California, together with the 91,300-bpd Wilmington plant close to Los Angeles.
This comes after Phillips 66 mentioned final October it’s going to shut its Los Angeles-area refinery resulting from “market dynamics” and start in October winding down operations on the 139,000-bpd plant.
The 2 refineries, mixed, produce roughly 17% of the state’s gasoline provide. Their shutting, alongside different closures and refineries transformed to supply renewable fuels, like Phillips 66’s Rodeo facility final yr, will depart California much more depending on dearer gas imports that will additional drive up costs.
