A fire swept through Chevron’s El Segundo, CA, refinery on October 2, upsetting production of gasoline, jet fuel and diesel. The incident raised fresh concerns about higher prices and highlighted the fragility of the state’s refining network, already challenged by years of weak margins, rising regulatory compliance costs and softening gasoline demand. In today’s RBN blog, we discuss the immediate impact of the fire and the long-term outlook for California’s refining sector.
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Let’s start with what we know about the fire, which Chevron said started at about 9:30 p.m. on October 2 at a processing unit at the refinery. Although the company has provided few specifics, our understanding is that the refinery’s hydrocracker, which is used to convert gas oils into higher-value products, including jet fuel and distillates, was the main unit impacted. (News reports indicated that several units at the refinery were shut after the fire, including the catalytic reformer and fluid catalytic cracker, but did not note any damage to them.)
Chevron said in the days following the fire that it would be making operational adjustments to meet fuel demand and indicated on October 7 that the refinery “continues to operate and create transportation fuels, although at diminished rates.” With a capacity of 291 Mb/d, El Segundo is the second-biggest refinery in California and produces about 40% of the jet fuel and 20% of the motor vehicle fuels consumed in Southern California. In addition to El Segundo, Chevron owns the 257-Mb/d Richmond refinery near San Francisco and the 110-Mb/d Pasadena refinery near Houston. (It also owns the 369-Mb/d refinery in Pascagoula, MS, and the 58-Mb/d refinery in Salt Lake City, UT. Its total refining capacity is nearly 1.1 MMb/d.)
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About the song
“A Fragile Thing” was written by Robert Smith and appears as the third song on side one of The Cure’s 14th studio album, Songs of a Lost World. The Cure’s Robert Smith has stated the song is about “how love is the most enduring of emotions.” Released as the album’s second single in October 2024, it went to #6 on the Billboard Adult Alternative Airplay and #22 on the Billboard Alternative Airplay Singles charts. Personnel on the record were: Robert Smith (vocals, guitars, six-string bass, keyboards), Simon Gallup (bass), Reeves Gabrels (guitars), Roger O'Donnell (keyboards) and Jason Cooper (drums, percussion).
Songs of a Lost World was recorded between 2019 and 2022 at Rockfield in Wales. Produced by Robert Smith and Paul Corkett, it was released in November 2024 and went to #4 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart. It was the group’s first release of new material in 16 years. Three singles were released from the LP.
The Cure is an English rock band formed in Crawley, UK, in 1976 by Robert Smith and Lol Tolhurst. They released their debut album, Three Imaginary Boys, in May 1979. With the release of their second album, Seventeen Seconds, in April 1980, the band was at the forefront of the emerging and expanding goth rock scene. They have released 14 studio albums, seven live albums, seven compilation albums, 12 EPs and 47 singles. They have sold more than 30 million records worldwide. They have won two Brit Awards, two Ivor Novello Awards and an MTV Video Music Award. Thirteen members have passed through the group since its inception, with Robert Smith being the sole original member of the group still in it. They continue to record and tour and will be performing shows again in Europe in the summer of 2026.
"About the Song" -- written by Mickey McMahan , RBN Director of Musicology
