Large California refinery fire blazes as state stares down gas crisis

A fire broke out at a California refinery on Thursday as the state faces a looming gas crisis, energy policy experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The Chevron El Segundo oil refinery just outside of Los Angeles erupted into flames Thursday night and is still burning, with the cause unknown and no reported injuries, according to multiple reports. The blaze continues to burn as California faces a looming gas crisis, with two other refineries slated to shut down soon after state Democrats imposed stringent regulations for years.

“The fire underscores the gasoline crisis Gavin Newsom and Democrats have created for California. As the anti-fossil fuel government chases its vital oil and gas industry out of the state, any interruption in the state’s refining capabilities threatens to send gasoline prices through the roof,” Steve Milloy, senior fellow at the Energy & Environment Legal Institute told the DCNF. “The state’s climate policies are not helping the environment or saving the planet. They are just causing more pain to the already suffering Californians. Gavin Newsom wants to take these disastrous policies nationwide.”

NEW: @CAGovernor Gavin Newsom just signed legislation that could help bring down the cost of gasoline in California.

The Governor signed #AB30 (@AlvarezSD), which allows an additional blend of gasoline – E15 fuel specifically – to be sold in the state.

At the same time,…

— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) October 2, 2025

Though the flames are now reportedly contained to a smaller section, the refinery is the largest of its kind on the West Coast, according to Chevron. Two major refineries in California, Phillips 66 and Valero, are set to shutter in the next year, and one projection estimates that state gas prices could jump to over $8 a gallon with their closure and added regulatory costs.

California has the largest tax on gasoline in the country and some of America’s priciest gas rates.

In recent months, California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed bills to open up more oil drilling and expand fuel options. However, several energy sector experts have previously explained to the DCNF that these moves contrast with Newsom imposing stringent regulations on the oil and gas industry while also villainizing it.

Newsom signed several bills on Sept. 19 to “stabilize” the state’s gasoline market, though they also kept funding for California’s cap-and-trade program, which some have cautioned could lead to a spike in gas prices in the state over the next few years.

“Gov. Newsom’s pathetic efforts will do little to nothing to bring down gas prices for California drivers. California’s energy prices are high because of the high taxes and climate policies he championed, strangling the industry, shutting down production over the years, and making it more expensive and harder to sell gas in the state,” Director of the Arthur B. Robinson Center on Climate and Environmental Policy at The Heartland Institute Sterling Burnett told the DCNF. “Now he wants to be President and try to convince the electorate that California is not the job and resident shedding basket case that it is by tinkering around the edges.”

Newsom also signed a bill requiring oil refineries to keep fuel reserves to help prevent shortages in October 2024 as he railed against the oil and gas industry.

“They continue to lie, and they continue to manipulate. They have been raking in unprecedented profits because they can,” Newsom said as he signed the bill. “They’ve been screwing you for years and years and years.”

Newsom’s office did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

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