SACRAMENTO, Calif. — SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) \u2014 Thirty years ago, Willie Cruz was shocked when he learned the Southern California oil refinery where he worked was shutting down.<\/p>\n
Cruz, now a 61-year-old living in Arizona, had spent five years working in the environmental department when Powerine Oil Company said it would close the plant in Santa Fe Springs, southeast of Los Angeles. <\/p>\n
Cruz feared getting laid off again if he stayed in the industry. He decided to look into respiratory therapy, in part because he\u2019s asthmatic. A federal job training program paid for his schooling. <\/p>\n
\u201cI thought it was pretty cool, you know \u2014 go from polluting to helping, right?\u201d Cruz said.<\/p>\n
Now he’s advising his son, Wilfredo Cruz, as the Phillips 66 refinery in Los Angeles where the 37-year-old has worked for 12 years plans to close by the end of the month. <\/p>\n
Thousands \u2014 perhaps tens of thousands \u2014 of workers could lose jobs in the coming years as California tries to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels. Energy company Valero said earlier this year it would close a refinery in the Bay Area.<\/p>\n
California’s leading Democrats are grappling with how to confront lost jobs and high gas prices that the oil industry says are the result of the state’s climate policies.<\/p>\n
State energy regulators are negotiating to keep the Valero plant open and recently backed off a proposal to penalize oil companies<\/a> for high profits, while Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation to speed oil well permitting in the Central Valley. That action came after years of Newsom declaring he was \u201ctaking on big oil.\u201d <\/p>\n That inconsistent messaging has left the industry’s workers unsure of what the future holds.<\/p>\n California was the eighth-largest crude oil producer in the nation in 2024, down from being the third-largest in 2014, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The Valero and Phillips 66 refineries set to close account for roughly 18% of California\u2019s refining capacity, according to state energy regulators. They both produce jet fuel, gas and diesel.<\/p>\n The Phillips 66 refinery will start shutting down this month and end active fuel production at the end of 2025, the company said. The closure is based on multiple factors and \u201cin response to market dynamics,” Phillips 66 said.<\/p>\n The announcement came after Newsom signed a law last year aimed at preventing gas price spikes<\/a> that allows energy regulators to require that refineries keep a certain amount of fuel on hand to avoid shortages when they go offline for maintenance. But the company said its decision was unrelated to the law.<\/p>\n Phillips 66 said it is \u201ccommitted to treating all our refinery workers fairly and respectfully throughout this process.\u201d<\/p>\n Valero announced plans to \u201cidle, restructure or cease refining operations\u201d at its refinery in the Bay Area city of Benicia by the end of April. The company didn\u2019t respond to emails seeking comment on the status of its plans.<\/p>\n Valero pays about $7.7 million annually in taxes to the city, making up around 13% of Benicia\u2019s revenues, City Manager Mario Giuliani said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a significant and seismic impact to the city,\u201d he said of the planned closure.<\/p>\n Forty-six oil refineries in California closed between 2018 and 2024, according to the state\u2019s Employment Development Department. The fossil fuel industry employs roughly 94,000 people in the state, according to the Public Policy Institute of California.<\/p>\n One study estimated that the state would lose nearly 58,000 workers in the oil and gas industries between 2021 and 2030. About 56% of those workers will have to find new jobs because they are not retiring, according to the 2021 report by the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.<\/p>\n Lawmakers approved the Displaced Oil and Gas Worker Fund in 2022 to help workers receive career training and connect with job opportunities. The state has since awarded nearly $30 million overall to several groups to help workers across the state \u2014 from oil-rich Kern County<\/a> to Contra Costa County in the Bay Area.<\/p>\n But the funding is set to run out in 2027, and state lawmakers wrapped up their work for the year without an agreement on whether to extend it.<\/p>\n Newsom spokesperson Daniel Villase\u00f1or said the governor is committed to supporting displaced oil workers \u201cand affected communities in transitioning into new and emerging jobs and economic opportunities.\u201d <\/p>\n