Katy Grimes, Editor in Chief of the California Globe, and Mike Umbro stop by the ENB Podcast.
This podcast rolled around because Katy Grimes, the Editor in Chief of the California Globe, wrote a brilliant story, “Has California’s Oil and Gas Industry Hit the Point of No Return?” and in that story, she is pointing out that the National Security Risk created by Gavin Newsom’s energy policies may have pushed the oil and gas business to the brink of collapse.
On the podcast, we discussed that the main pipeline may shut down in weeks, meaning oil drilled in California will have to be trucked to refineries rather than put into the pipeline. Yes, you read that correctly. Shut down in weeks. We also ask, how many of those truck drivers are illegal migrants who can’t read, and we need thousands of trucks that don’t exist.
The other huge issue is the sheer number of tankers that will be piling up off the coast, which is a real problem. There is a good chance that some are no longer part of the Dark Fleet and may not be seaworthy or insured.
Ariza told the Globe that Valero, which announced in April 2025 that it would be shutting down its Benicia refinery in April 2026, has bumped the closure date up to January. Ariza explains why:
“The Phillips 66 refinery in Wilmington shut down on October 17th is taking 140,000 barrels per day of crude oil refining offline. Originally Valero in Benicia was slated to shut down in April of 2026. However, given the fact that they cancelled their crude oil contracts over six weeks ago it looks like they will be shutting down no later than January of 2026, four months ahead of schedule.
Now, in 2025, Valero is not even seeking to try and sell the refinery. Even after the state tried to convince Valero to remain open, they elected to shut down. And instead of shutting down in April, they have moved the shutdown ahead to January. All due to the state’s egregious regulations and unprecedented unjustified fines.”
Ariza said when refineries shut down, more Californians will leave the state. California’s oil and gas industry provides 536,770 total jobs in California and 148,140 Californians are directly employed by its individual companies—along with the $338 billion total economic contribution to California’s economy.
He explained in more detail in an updated statement he shared:
“At this point we will be importing nearly half (50%) of our gasoline and 40% of our jet fuel from overseas. This is unprecedented in our country’s history. This leaves both us and our military at extreme risk to multiple events. Many of these have occurred just within the past 8 weeks.
- The Chevron Refinery in El Segundo had a massive fire resulting in a loss of both jet fuel and gasoline production. The loss of jet fuel forced a rerouting of a gulf tanker from the east coast to the west coast AND a rerouting of Northern California produced jet fuel south.
- A fuel oil tanker bound for a refinery in Singapore was hijacked by the Iranian revolutionary guard.
- A cargo ship at the port of Los Angeles had a huge fire resulting in it being towed out and away from the dock to prevent damage.
- A major Olympic gasoline pipeline near Seattle sprang a leak resulting in its shutdown for repair.”
We also covered this wonderful pie chart. It is sad to think that California went from importing oil from Alaska or drilling for oil on our own soil to importing over 70% of its oil, and soon we will be importing diesel, jet fuel, and gasoline.
— STUART TURLEY – Energy Podcast Host (@STUARTTURLEY16) December 5, 2025
02:17 California’s Oil Crisis is now a Security Risk
04:50 California Imports 70% of the oil it requires
07:09 Permitting and Regulatory issues for E&P operators
10:06 Crimson Midstream Pipeline, The San Pablo pipeline potential shutdown mid-December
12:21 The largest oil spills were from Tankers, and we are going to see more tankers on the water, driving potential accidents up.
13:51 Shout out to Gene Nelson, PhD., whom I just interviewed, and we talked about that interview that is now in production.
16:06 Nuclear plants had been shut down to make way for wind and solar installations.
18:52: The oil industry is over
22:05 How to fix the broken system
23:55 Alaska imports jet fuel, diesel, and gasoline, causing significant environmental damage.
41:18 Mike Umbro, Energy Environmentalist: Well, that’s about hugs and Chris Wright. I told you I don’t need a hug, I need a permit.
Please make no mistake, we have a crisis brewing in California.
Thank you to all of our wonderful Subscribers and Patrons. Buckle up, we have a rough ride ahead for California, and we will be covering this.
We have 6 great podcasts lined up with folks, and next week we have Josh Young, David Blackmon, and Wasif Latif talking global Oil and Gas Markets. I have Giacomo Prandelli, the author of The Merchant’s News Substack, on the podcast from Switzerland, and we will cover the global insights of finance.
Have a great Weekend! – Stu
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