How the Chevron refinery fire in El Segundo could affect California gas prices

A large fire at the El Segundo Chevron refinery in Los Angeles County has raised concerns about higher gas prices across California. 

Officers and firefighters responded to the refinery on Thursday night after receiving multiple reports of an explosion and ensuing fire, according to the El Segundo Police Department. Crews, which included Chevron's private emergency response team, contained the fire to the southeast corner of the facility by the end of the night and completely extinguished it the following morning.

As the fuel company conducts its internal investigation to determine the cause of the fire, experts from AAA and the University of Southern California predict that gas prices across the state will likely spike.

"All eyes are on where pump prices are going to go from here," AAA spokesperson Doug Shupe said. "The facility does play a very significant role in the region's fuel supply."

According to Chevron's website, the facility processes 276,000 barrels of oil every day and "is the largest producing oil refinery on the west coast." The refinery produces 20% of the state's fuel for cars and 40% of the stock for jet fuel. 

USC professor Shon Hiatt said that if the Chevron facility goes offline, it will join three other California refineries closing in the next six months. 

"The prices will probably increase 13 cents a week for every week that the Chevron refinery is offline," Hiatt said. "This is why this is such a big national security and energy security issue in California."

Hiatt believes that if there is a shortage, the state will need to import oil from South Korea or China, potentially straining the supply chain to the point where commercial air travel could be impacted. 

"We are in a situation where, without getting refined fuels coming in from a tanker very soon, we could draw down all of our stocks and have a massive scarcity that could prevent flights from taking off," Hiatt said.