Guest essay by Ronald Stein, P.E. Originally Published in the Epoch Times as a video interview, April 4, 2026
California transportation fuel demands are among the highest in the nation and are now beginning to be imported from refineries in foreign countries. The State will be importing transportation fuels from foreign based refineries to run its 30 military airports and 9 international airports – a National Security risk for America.
California is the 4th largest economy in the world and an “ENERGY ISLAND” that is isolated from the other 49 States by the Sierra Nevada mountain range. There are no pipelines over those majestic mountains to connect the State to the rest of the country. Thus, California’s in-State refineries have been producing ALL the transportation fuels demanded on the California “Energy Island”.
Bunker fuel for the ships servicing three of the busiest Ports in America, located in California. The Port of Los Angeles had more than 1,800 vessel arrivals in 2024, which includes cruise and merchant ships. The Port of Long Beach handled over 9.6 million container units in 2024, indicating a very high volume of ship activity, plus cruise ships. The Port of Oakland, which also handles significant cargo volumes, contributes to the total number of cruise and merchant ships needing fuel.
Jet fuel: California has over 2,400 airports and aviation facilities, including 9 international airports and 30 major military airports. The demand is 13 million gallons of aviation fuel daily. Several of those airports have direct pipelines to local refineries. In 2019, California consumed 16.7% of the national total of jet fuel, making it the largest consumer of jet fuel in America.
Gasoline: For its 30 million vehicles, California is the second-largest consumer of motor gasoline among the 50 states, consuming 42 million gallons a day of gasoline, just behind Texas.
Diesel: Diesel fuel is the second largest transportation fuel used in California, consuming 10 million gallons a day of diesel to support the state’s trucking of products from 3 of the busiest shipping ports in America
California’s regulatory environment has created a refining capacity vacuum that global markets are rushing to fill, as regional policy decisions are creating international market opportunities and reshaping geopolitical energy dynamics.
Liquid transportation fuels remain essential for sectors that are difficult to electrify. Aviation still depends on jet fuel, global shipping requires bunker fuel, heavy transport, construction, and the petrochemical industry continues to rely on refined petroleum products. Diesel and jet fuel, and petrochemical feedstocks, will remain crucial for decades, even with reduced demand for gasoline from electric vehicles. If local refining capacity decreases in California while demand persists, markets will respond by seeking transportation fuels elsewhere.
It must be remembered that crude oil, by itself, is useless black tar unless you build a multi-billion-dollar refinery to break it down to produce various types of transportation fuels, and oil derivatives that are the basis of virtually all the products in our materialistic world.
California’s environmental regulations and aging infrastructure are inadvertently triggering a worldwide refinery construction boom. There will be economic consequences for California consumers as domestic refining capacity shrinks and import dependence grows. The paradox of California’s environmental policies and California’s emissions reductions may be increasing the global carbon footprints through longer supply chains.
In the future, 181 new refinery units that are planned or announced in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East will be providing transportation fuels to California’s 9 international airports, 30 major military airports, and 3 of the largest shipping ports.
These modern refineries in other countries are designed to operate on a massive scale, process multiple types of crude oil, and export transportation fuels worldwide. Tanker transport allows refined transportation fuels to reach major consumption centers, including ports such as the Port of Los Angeles, the Port of Long Beach, and the Port of Oakland.
As California’s refining capacity continues to decline, the California transportation fuel demands for its shipping ports, airports, cars and trucks are among the highest in the nation and will be increasingly imported from refineries in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.
California, the 4th largest economy in the world, with growing dependence on transportation fuels made from refined crude oil at foreign refineries will be a national security risk for the entire country.
California has closed 2 refineries, and more closures are on the way as the California Air Resources Board (CARB) is tightening up the regulations on emissions that may drive the remaining 6 refineries in the State to EXIT to more business-friendly States.
The 4th largest economy in the world NEEDS new refineries to process crude oil, to be built IN CALIFORNIA.
Energy “REALITY” tells us that we need refineries to convert that useless black tar into usable transportation fuels and products:
Planes, ships, trucks, and cars do not run on raw crude oil, they run on transportation fuels manufactured FROM crude oil by multi-billion-dollar refineries.
With no pipelines over the Sierra Mountain, the new refinery in Brownsville in Texas will be useless to the California Energy Island that demands in-state refineries to provide transportation fuels for 30 major military locations, 9 international airports, 3 of the busiest ports in America, and fuels for the trucks that transport imported products to the rest of America.
Wind turbines and solar panels ONLY generate electricity but CANNOT make any of the more than 6,000 products that are based on the oil derivatives manufactured out of raw crude oil, nor can wind and solar make anu transportation fuels for the military, airports, merchant ships, automobiles and trucks. The world is not dependent on raw natural fossil fuels BUT has become dependent on the products and transportation fuels MADE FROM oil, the same products and transportation fuels that Wind and Solar CANNOT make!
The world needs MORE REFINERIES to process that useless black tar into usable transportation fuels and products for life as we know it.
Collectively, closure of the Phillips refinery in Southern California and the Valero refinery in Northern California provided about 17% of the state’s crude oil processing capacity to provide transportation fuels demanded in California. Thus, transportation fuel shortages are imminent for California, and will be importing those transportation fuels from Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.
The supply chain of fuels and products refined from raw crude oil will face severe imbalances, most likely leading to higher costs and shortages for future generations. With 99.5% of the 8 billion people on this planet Earth living outside the borders of California, CARB is solidifying California’s 4th largest economy in the world as a national security risk for the entire USA!
Be sure to watch and listen to the Epoch Times interview:
California’s Oil Problem Is Bigger Than California
Ronald Stein, P.E., is an engineer, columnist on energy literacy at America Out Loud NEWS, and advisor on energy literacy for the Heartland Institute and CFACT, and co-author of the Pulitzer Prize-nominated book “Clean Energy Exploitations.” He is also the recipient of an unsolicited Tribute to Ronald Stein from Stephen Hines.
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