Assembly urges Shell not to close refinery

The Associated Press

The California Assembly urged Shell Oil Corp. July 2 to keep open a Bakersfield refinery that’s scheduled to close in October.

The resolution, by Assemblywoman Christine Kehoe, D-San Diego, urged the company to keep producing diesel and gasoline until the end of this year to allow a buyer to be found for the aging plant. Shell officials say the refinery is being closed because the crude oil from the Kern County oil fields is drying up.

The resolution passed on a voice vote, but not before extended debate among Assembly members about whether the state should be involved.

Assemblyman Tom Harman, R-Huntington Beach, opposed the nonbinding resolution, saying the company had given nearly a year’s notice that the refinery would be shuttered. State officials should be concerned with the Bakersfield plant because it will affect California’s fuel supplies, said Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara. The refinery produces about 2 percent of the state’s gasoline and 6 percent of its diesel supply — and the timing of the shutdown will fall just when farmers need more fuel for harvest, she said.

In committee testimony, Assemblyman Dennis Mountjoy said lawmakers heard the company planned to demolish the plant and not offer it for sale.