Sacramento gas prices expected to rise after Chevron refinery fire in El Segundo
Experts say gas prices in Sacramento are expected to rise as soon as this weekend due to a fire at the Chevron refinery in El Segundo.
Matt McClain, a petroleum analyst at the technology company GasBuddy, which provides gas price tracking along with market insights for drivers and businesses, said the region could begin seeing increases of 10 to 20 cents per gallon. How long the price will stay elevated depends on updates from Chevron about the extent of the damage and how long repairs will take.
“It’s really important for people to understand that the more they go to the gas stations locally and start topping off their tanks and filling up, that creates a lot of additional pressure on the overall supply-and-demand situation,” McClain said.
“If you need gas today, get it. If you don’t need it today, get it tomorrow…the gas stations aren’t going to be without fuel by any stretch.”
A fire at the Chevron refinery that began Thursday evening continued overnight before being contained around 11 a.m. Friday, according to the El Segundo city manager’s office. No injuries have been reported, according to Chevron, which has launched an investigation.
Chevron did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the extent of the damage.
“What will happen is that imports that were headed for Northern California will be rerouted to Southern California to fill in for some of the shortage, and that will drive up prices in Northern California,” said Severin Borenstein, faculty director of the Energy Institute at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, noting the incident comes “at a bad time,” as many refineries typically go offline for seasonal maintenance this time of year.
Gas prices could remain elevated depending on the extent of the damage, the speed of production recovery, the timing of imports and traders’ confidence in turning a profit on additional supplies.
Borenstein pointed to a major fire at the Torrance Exxon refinery in 2015, when the incident caused the facility to run at reduced capacity for more than a year, pushing California gas prices higher for months.
“The bigger problem was they just stayed up a lot for a long time…because Exxon was never clear how quickly it was going to be able to repair,” Borenstein said. “And because of that uncertainty, some of the traders were hesitant to start ordering shipments to import, and that ended up raising prices for most of 2015.”
This story was originally published October 3, 2025 at 5:26 PM.
