Governor Newsom tacitly helps the import of aviation gas into Northern California. – Watts up with that?

By On May 27, 2021

The local AQMD district in the Bay Area is considering measures to reduce the supply of aviation fuel as the governor remains silent.

By Ronald Stein

Ambassador for Energy and Infrastructure, Irvine, California

In an effort to make Bay Area refineries even cleaner at all costs for the consumer, the Bay Area Local Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) is considering changes to Rule 6, Rule 5 – Particulate Emissions from Refinery Fluidized Catalytic Crackers That Are negatively affect the supply of jet fuel, which is required for the operation of aircraft in California.

BAAQMD may not be aware that oil and gas is an international industry with more than 700 refineries worldwide this serves the needs of the 8 billion who live on earth. California’s refineries are the cleanest in the world because they operate in the world’s most environmentally friendly place – the state of California.

The Bay Area manages 44 percent of California’s oil refining capacity. BAAQMD rule 6-5, if left unchanged, will likely force the closure of the PBF Martinez and Chevron Richmond refineries in Northern California, as well as the closure of the many companies that support these large refineries from the surrounding counties of Alameda, Contra, Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, and Sonoma.

In 2019, these three major Northern California airports in Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose requested 1.4 billion gallons of jet fuel to support passenger and cargo operations. Chevron Richmond Refinery and PBF Energy Martinez supply 100 percent of conventional jet fuel to these Bay Area airports.

Airlines are becoming more and more economical, but the growth in the number of aircraft means that the demand for jet fuel remains large and growing.

Given the availability of affordable jet fuel, which is vital to flight operations, and maintaining the Bay Area’s economy and the fact that jet fuel is the second largest cost of running an airline, the governor’s office should have concerns about the proposal under Rule 6-5 could affect the level of air service and employment in California.

The proposed rule would result in refineries in the Bay Area being shut down because the means and cost of complying with them would be prohibitive for their refineries. If that happened, it would severely curtail fuel supplies in the Bay Area, causing delays in fuel deliveries, lowering fuel quality and increasing fuel prices, as the demand for air travel returns and our nation emerges from the COVID-19 crisis.

With Chevron Richmond and PBF Martinez, the only local refineries making jet fuel to support the military and SFO, OAK and SJC international airports, reducing supply becomes dependent on unreliable overseas manufacturers like China, the largest polluting country in China , are contributing the world to meet the demands of the military and commercial transportation needs in Northern California.

In addition, this leads to a greater reliance on imports from abroad, which are located around the world, and ultimately to higher fuel prices not only in the Bay Area but also in other locations on the west coast and in inland areas that pass through Pipelines are connected. The consequences would extend beyond airlines to their customer base and entire supply chain, including regional airports and the shipping public.

Through the states’ dysfunctional energy policies, California imports more electricity than any other state– Currently at 32 percent from the northwest and southwest and dysfunctional hopes other states will be able to generate enough electricity to meet the state’s demands. California is also the only state in the lower 48 states that is entirely dependent on overseas suppliers increased imported crude oil from abroad from 5 percent in 1992 to 58 percent today.

Governor Newsom continues to do everything possible to increase the cost of electricity and fuel, which is driving up the cost of anything that increases the homeless population (no pun intended).

BAAQMD’s local actions will not only create significant problems for the viability of refineries in the Bay Area, but will also affect our national security and impose higher energy bills on all of California’s 40 million residents. While this potential threat to our national security and California economy persists, Governor Newsom’s silence remains deafening!

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