[sammyg2]

Phillips 66 is shutting down its Santa Maria Refinery facility on the Nipomo Mesa as it pivots to renewable fuels, but it’s unclear what will happen to the facility’s 110 employees.

The oil company announced plans on Thursday to shutter the local facility, as well as its Rodeo Carbon Plant in Northern California in 2023. According to a news release, associated oil pipelines for the plants will also be phased out starting that year.

The news comes on the same day that the company announced plans to transform its San Francisco refinery in Rodeo, in the East Bay Area near Vallejo, into the world’s largest renewable fuels plant.

* Marathon Petroleum MPC.N, the largest U.S. refiner by volume, plans to permanently halt processing at refineries in Martinez, California, and Gallup, New Mexico.

The Shell oil refinery in Convent is up for sale but could face closure if the company doesn't find a buyer as it consolidates its refinery portfolio from 14 sites to only six by 2025.
Other refineries under review for potential sale or closure include Puget Sound, Washington, and Mobile, Alabama, along with ones in Canada and Denmark.

The plans to switch to renewable fuels plants is a hail Mary pipe-dream, something to keep the major investors off their backs.