Fox News contributor Mary Katharine Ham and Heather Zumarraga, president of Zuma Global, discuss California’s lack of resources to fight wildfires on “Making Money.”
In addition to the devastation Deadly wildfires underway in California have already caused damage to homes, businesses and other infrastructure, uncontrolled fires could harm the flow of energy in the region and beyond.
Lipow Oil Associates President Andy Lipow warned in a memo this week that supplies of crude oil, gasoline, diesel and natural gas could all be affected.
Storage tanks at the Marathon Petroleum Los Angeles refinery, which processes domestic and imported crude oil, gasoline, diesel fuel and other petroleum products in Carson, California, March 11, 2022. (Reuters/Bing Guan/Reuters Photos)
While the five refineries located in the Los Angeles The Long Beach and Long Beach areas are not directly threatened by the fires so far, but several pipelines are, which means cutting off supplies not only to California, but also to other states.
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It could also lead to a buildup at refineries, which could be forced to reduce their operating rates to contain inventories. Lipow said the five Los Angeles area refineries handle 60% of California’s refining capacity and 40% of the West Coast’s refining capacity, including Alaska and Hawaii.
Vehicles drive past the Wilmington plant of the Phillips 66 Los Angeles Refinery on November 28, 2022, in Wilmington, California. (Mario Tama/Getty Images/Getty Images)
He pointed to crude oil and natural gas pipelines near the Hurst and Easton fires and noted that Kinder Morgan’s West Line had already been shut down. It supplies approximately 60% of the refined products consumed in Nevada and two-thirds of the refined products consumed in Arizona.
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“I have not heard of any closures of crude oil or natural gas pipelines, but they are threatened not only by the obvious risk of fire, but are also expected to lose electricity due to the preventative measures taken by local utilities,” Lipow wrote.
A firefighting aircraft conducts a drop on the Palisades Fire in Pacific Palisades, Tuesday, January 7. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images/Getty Images)
There are four major wildfires surrounding Los Angeles. The White House said Friday that local, state and federal fighters managed to partially contain some of the largest fires overnight.
Officials said the Pasadena fire was 3% contained, while the Pacific Palisades fire was 8% contained. The Ventura Fire is 35% contained and the Sylmar Fire is 37% contained.
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So far, the fires have destroyed more than 10,000 homes and businesses and left 10 people dead.
