For more than a century, the Phillips 66 Los Angeles refinery, in Wilmington and Carson, has symbolized the legacy of the region’s oil industry – which, in many ways, built Southern California.

The industrial behemoth, however, now represents something else: the slow, but constant, decline of that once resolute legacy.

By year’s end, Phillips 66 will shutter the refinery.

The facility — which is among a cluster of South Bay refineries, including the El Segundo Chevron Refinery that experienced a fire last week — is one of the largest fuel providers in the country. It spans 405 acres across two facilities, produces about 139,000 barrels of crude oil and 85,000 barrels of gasoline per day, and employs hundreds of people.

The plant’s imminent closure, initially announced in October 2024

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