Valero Eats $1.1 Billion Loss to Escape Newsom’s Toxic California

[SSG Snuggle Bunny]

Valero just wrote off $1.1 billion. That is the cost they are taking to walk away from California rather than keep operating their Benicia refinery past April 2026.

When a company takes a billion dollar loss just to leave, you know something is seriously broken.

This facility processes 145,000 barrels of oil per day, representing 8.6% of California’s entire gasoline production. 400 workers have lost their jobs. 200 contractors are out of work.

The city of Benicia loses 17% of its entire budget, and California drivers, they are about to get hammered with the worst gas prices in American history.

University of California Davis economists calculate a 40 cents per gallon increase the moment Phillips 66 closes their Los Angeles refinery this December. Then another 81 cents when Valero shuts down four months later in April. That totals a $1.21 per gallon increase by August 2026, your 15 gallon fill-up jumps from $70 to at least $95.

The Stanford Energy Institute came up with even worse projections. They are showing potential spikes to $8 per gallon during supply disruptions.


There is an added wrinkle — a major one. In an attempt to reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, the state has mandated the use of special blends of gasoline, which are known as “CARBOBs — California reformulated gasoline blend stock for oxygenate blending. This is not regular gasoline. It is a specialized ultra clean burning fuel mandated by California law.”

These blends cost substantially more to produce than regular gasoline due to their added complexity.

Unlike other states, California’s special fuel blends cannot be imported from major U.S. oil-producing states such as Texas, Oklahoma, or Louisiana when inventory runs low. Instead, supply comes largely from a shrinking number of in-state refineries or from a handful of foreign refineries — primarily in countries like South Korea, India, and Singapore — that have the specialized equipment needed to produce CARBOB fuel.

The long-distance transport, exposure to global supply-chain disruptions, and added logistical costs all drive prices higher — costs that are first borne by corporations and ultimately passed on to California consumers at the pump.

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