On Tuesday evening, a massive explosion and fire ripped through Chevron’s refinery in El Segundo, Los Angeles County. Chevron, the second largest U.S. oil producer, first acknowledged the incident in a regulatory filing. The compliance report specifically called out the facility for emergency flaring. While it’s still unclear what started the blaze, an investigation into what led to the spectacular event is underway.
Chevron’s El Segundo refinery is integral to its production of the most essential form of energy. It has a huge rated capacity—290,000 barrels per day. The facility produces primarily gasoline, jet fuel and diesel—fuels that serve three major markets throughout the increasingly important Southeastern United States. Additionally, the refinery has a staggering 12.5 million barrel storage capacity. With roughly 150 large, high-throughput public terminals, they are a critical part of California’s energy supply chain.
As emergency responders arrived on the scene, the Los Angeles Fire Department stood ready to assist Chevron with any requests for aid. Mayor Karen Bass addressed the situation, reassuring the public that there was “no known impact to LAX at this time,” indicating that operations at Los Angeles International Airport continued unaffected.
Eyewitness accounts described the incident as shocking. Mark Rogers, who was in the area when the explosion occurred, said, “I thought we got nuked or something! His words brought the reality of the horrific explosion that rocked his city to life.
As CBS reported, firefighters quickly came to the scene to respond to the explosion at Chevron’s San Francisco area refinery. The Los Angeles Times went in depth on the explosion as well, focusing on what it might mean for locals and what it means for the energy market.
Chevron is still in the command and control phase, working alongside local administrators and emergency responders. Even as investigations into the cause of the fire continue, Tzachor’s experience holds lessons for future disasters. We look forward to more detailed updates from Chevron and city officials that can explain what occurred here.