Phillips 66 Closely Monitoring California Fires

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Phillips 66 Closely Monitoring California Fires

Phillips 66 is closely monitoring the fires in Southern California, a company spokesperson told Rigzone late Thursday. “There are currently no disruptions to operations, and Phillips 66 is actively taking steps to minimize any potential disruptions,” the spokesperson added. “The safety and well-being of our employees remain our top priority, and we are actively taking […]

Phillips 66 is closely monitoring the fires in Southern California, a company spokesperson told Rigzone late Thursday.

“There are currently no disruptions to operations, and Phillips 66 is actively taking steps to minimize any potential disruptions,” the spokesperson added.

“The safety and well-being of our employees remain our top priority, and we are actively taking steps to ensure their safety,” the spokesperson continued.

Phillips 66 has a refinery that “consists of two facilities linked by pipeline located five miles apart in Carson and Wilmington, California, approximately 15 miles southeast of Los Angeles”, the company’s site shows. Total throughput at the asset is 165,000 barrels per day, according to the site.

In a release posted on its website in October last year, Phillips 66 announced plans to cease operations at its Los Angeles-area refinery in the fourth quarter of 2025. Approximately 600 employees and 300 contractors currently operate the Los Angeles-area refinery, the company noted in the release.

“We understand this decision has an impact on our employees, contractors, and the broader community,” Mark Lashier, chairman and CEO of Phillips 66, said in the release.

“We will work to help and support them through this transition,” he added.

“With the long-term sustainability of our Los Angeles Refinery uncertain and affected by market dynamics, we are working with leading land development firms to evaluate the future use of our unique and strategically located properties near the Port of Los Angeles,” he continued.

“Phillips 66 remains committed to serving California and will continue to take the necessary steps to meet our commercial and customer demands,” Lashier went on to state.

In a media advisory sent to Rigzone late Thursday by the AccuWeather team, the company said “fires continue to rage across Southern California”. It added that it has updated and increased its preliminary estimate of the total damage and economic loss to between $135 billion and $150 billion.

“These fast-moving, wind-driven infernos have created one of the costliest wildfire disasters in modern U.S. history,” AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter said in the advisory.

“Hurricane-force winds sent flames ripping through neighborhoods filled with multi-million-dollar homes. The devastation left behind is heartbreaking and the economic toll is staggering,” he added.

“To put this into perspective, the total damage and economic loss from this wildfire disaster could reach nearly four percent of the annual GDP of the state of California,” Porter went on to state.

AccuWeather experts say the estimate for total damage and economic loss may be revised upward, the advisory warned.

“To put this wildfire disaster into further context, the AccuWeather estimate for the total damage and economic loss from the wildfires in Maui in 2023 was $13-$16 billion,” the advisory stated.

“The wildfires in the western United States in 2020 was $130-$150 billion and in 2021 was $70-$90 billion. More recently, the hurricanes that impacted the U.S., including Milton, which caused $160-180 billion and Helene, which caused $225-$250 billion, and the 2024 hurricane season as a whole reached nearly a half-trillion dollars,” it added.

In a media advisory sent to Rigzone by the AccuWeather team late Wednesday, AccuWeather said its preliminary estimate of the total damage and economic loss “from the devastating wildfires burning in Southern California, and endangering and disrupting lives, is $52-$57 billion”.

“This is already one of the worst wildfires in California history,” Porter said in that advisory.

“Should a large number of additional structures be burned in the coming days, it may become the worst wildfire in modern California history based on the number of structures burned and economic loss,” he added.

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