Seven major US refinery closures and conversions since 2019 have permanently removed more than 1.2 million barrels per day of crude processing capacity, tightening domestic fuel supply. Three California shutdowns account for much of the recent loss. Phillips 66 Los Angeles at about 138,700 barrels per day, Valero Benicia at roughly 170,000 barrels per day, and the prior crude run at Phillips 66 Rodeo near 120,000 barrels per day together represent close to 27 percent of California's statewide refining capacity of about 1.483 million barrels per day.

Despite the closures, the remaining fleet is running hard. US refinery utilization stood at about 96.1 percent as of June 19, 2026, after running near 94.8 percent in December 2025 on crude inputs of roughly 17.0 million barrels per day. High utilization leaves little spare capacity to absorb unplanned outages, which can push regional fuel prices sharply higher when a plant goes offline.

Structural pressures help explain the contraction. Crack spreads, the margin between crude costs and refined product prices, have declined from their 2022 post-pandemic peak, and refinery margins for gasoline and diesel fell roughly 26 to 29 percent year over year in 2024. Thinner margins have made marginal and mid-size refineries harder to sustain, accelerating decisions to close or convert older plants. With fewer barrels of processing capacity and utilization near the top of its range, the US fuel supply chain carries less slack heading into the high-demand summer driving and shipping season.

Source: The World Data - https://theworlddata.com/oil-refinery-statistics-in-us/