Defense Production Act – California Globe

Understanding California Refineries: The ‘Turnaround’

May 4, 2026 6:00 amMay 4, 2026 11:05 am

“The oil industry makes up 8% of California’s GDP. Without that 8%, the other 92% would be impossible to achieve.” — USC Professor Mike Mische California’s refineries are the heart and the pulse of the industry. Refineries are very complex...

Statewide Fuel Shortages are Imminent

April 22, 2026 8:00 amApril 22, 2026 8:01 am

November 5, 2025, I wrote an article titled “An Increasing Threat to Readiness,” expressing my concern about our declining in-state crude oil production and refining capabilities. At the end of that article, I wrote about the need for presidential intervention...

Newsom’s Green Dreams Meet Reality

April 20, 2026 1:30 pmApril 20, 2026 3:40 pm

I remember the day the lights went out. January 2001, middle of a trading session, and California’s rolling blackouts killed the power on the floor. We time-stamped tickets by hand and surrendered them to operations for manual reconciliation. My book...

Greenberg: A Novice Congressional Candidate Blows it on Energy Politics

March 25, 2026 7:16 amMarch 25, 2026 7:16 am

The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway separating Iran from Oman and the United Arab Emirates, is a critical global chokepoint. Roughly 25% of the world’s seaborne oil trade, about 20 million barrels per day, normally passes through it. Today...

The Collateral Damage from the War on Oil!

March 25, 2026 6:52 amMarch 25, 2026 6:52 am

I am hoping that none of you are fooled into believing that the recent gasoline price spikes at the pump are due to the war with Iran, because nothing could be further from the truth as it effects California. Our...

Sacramento’s Idea of a Transition

March 19, 2026 1:12 pmMarch 19, 2026 1:16 pm

In 1991, California had more than forty refineries. By the end of 2026, it will have fewer than eleven. Of those, only five are large enough to matter. Phillips 66 shuttered its 147,000-barrel-per-day Los Angeles refinery in December. Valero’s Benicia...