Commentary: California’s energy reality — we shut down refineries, now we pay the price

California families are paying some of the highest gasoline prices in America, and politicians continue acting like this happened by accident. It did not. This crisis was created through years of shutting down refineries, reducing in-state oil production, and making California more dependent on foreign crude oil imports from unstable regions of the world.

Today, California imports the majority of the crude oil used by our refineries. According to the California Energy Commission, foreign oil now makes up more than 60 percent of California’s refinery supply, while Alaska provides only about 16 percent and California’s own production has continued to decline.

A large portion of those imports comes from overseas suppliers tied to the global Middle East oil market, including Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. In recent years, Iraq alone supplied more than 20 percent of California’s foreign crude imports. Saudi Arabia and UAE imports added even more dependence on the Persian Gulf region.

That means when tensions rise involving Iran or the Strait of Hormuz, California drivers immediately feel it at the pump — even if California is not directly importing Iranian oil. We built an energy system dependent on overseas shipping lanes while simultaneously attacking our own refining infrastructure here at home.

At the same time, California has been losing refinery capacity.

The Valero Benicia refinery, capable of processing roughly 145,000 barrels per day, is now being idled and shut down. Phillips 66 also announced refinery shutdowns and restructuring in California, removing even more in-state fuel production capacity. Analysts now warn California could lose close to 20 percent of its gasoline production capacity in a very short period of time.

California already operates with a limited number of major refineries, and once refining capacity disappears, supply becomes tighter and prices become more volatile. Experts across the energy industry have warned that refinery closures increase the risk of fuel shortages and severe price spikes.

Meanwhile, Sacramento continues pushing policies that discourage oil production and refining while Californians still drive millions of gasoline-powered vehicles every day. Even supporters of the state’s energy transition admit California still consumes enormous amounts of fuel daily.

The result is simple economics: less local production, fewer refineries, more imports, tighter supply, and higher prices.

California once produced far more of its own energy and relied less on foreign oil. Instead of strengthening energy independence, state leadership chose to make California more dependent on overseas crude while reducing the ability to refine fuel here at home.

Now working families, truckers, commuters, farmers, and small businesses are paying the price every single time they pull up to a gas pump.

California’s energy policy is no longer just an environmental debate. It has become a cost-of-living crisis.