Carson, CA
#31 of 422 U.S. rack markets by terminals
- terminals
- 7
- pipeline systems delivering
- 2
- refineries confirmed
- 1
- more per research or by route
- 11
- people in the trade area
- 1,570,388
- gal/day gasoline · estimated demand
- 1,401,403
- gal/day diesel · estimated demand
- 276,291
Terminals in this market
| Terminal | TCN | Location | Delivered by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Altair Paramount | T-95-CA-4808 | Paramount, CA | Kinder Morgan SFPP |
| Chemoil Terminals Corporation Carson Tank Farm | T-33-CA-4779 | Long Beach, CA | Coastal Marine |
| Kinder Morgan Tank Storage - Carson Terminal | T-33-CA-4751 | Carson, CA | Kinder Morgan SFPP |
| Sfpp, L.p. - Watson Station | T-33-CA-4746 | Carson, CA | Kinder Morgan SFPP |
| Shell Oil Products US | T-33-CA-4785 | Signal Hill, CA | Kinder Morgan SFPP |
| Tesoro Logistics Operations LLC | T-33-CA-4769 | Carson, CA | no pipeline tariff on file |
| Tesoro Logistics Operations LLC East Hynes Terminal | T-33-CA-4764 | Long Beach, CA | no pipeline tariff on file |
Pipelines delivering to this market
Each system with a tariff delivery point at one of this market’s terminals, and how many running refineries can ship on it to here.
| Pipeline system | Terminals here | Delivery points | Refineries confirmed | All reachable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kinder Morgan SFPP | 4 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| Coastal Marine | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
Refineries that can supply this market
| Refinery | Location | Via | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Valero Wilmington Asphalt Plant | Wilmington Asphalt Plant, CA | named in a tariff | |
| BP Cherry Point Refinery | Ferndale, WA | Coastal Marine | per research |
| Chevron El Segundo Refinery | El Segundo, CA | Kinder Morgan SFPP | per research |
| Chevron Richmond Refinery | Richmond, CA | Coastal Marine | per research |
| HF Sinclair Puget Sound Refinery | Anacortes, WA | Coastal Marine | per research |
| Marathon Anacortes Refinery | Anacortes, WA | Coastal Marine | per research |
| Marathon Los Angeles Refinery (Carson Operations; formerly Tesoro Los Angeles Refinery) | Carson, CA | Kinder Morgan SFPP | per research |
| Martinez Refining Company (formerly Shell Martinez Refinery) | Martinez, CA | Coastal Marine | per research |
| PBF Energy Torrance Refinery | Torrance, CA | Kinder Morgan SFPP | per research |
| Phillips 66 Ferndale Refinery | Ferndale, WA | Coastal Marine | per research |
| U.S. Oil & Refining Co. Tacoma Refinery | Tacoma, WA | Coastal Marine | per research |
| Valero Wilmington Refinery (formerly Ultramar Wilmington Refinery) | Wilmington Refinery, CA | Kinder Morgan SFPP | per research |
Trade area
- people in the trade area · 2025 estimate
- 1,570,388
- rank of 422 rack markets by people
- #61
- gallons of gasoline a day · estimate, 2025
- 1,401,403
- gallons of diesel a day · estimate, 2025
- 276,291
- counties wholly in this market
- 0
- counties shared with other markets
- 2
| County | State | Share here | People counted here | Gasoline gal/day | Diesel gal/day | County population | Miles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles County | CA | 12% | 1,159,514 | 1,028,632 | 205,956 | 9,694,934 | 25 |
| Orange County | CA | 13% | 410,381 | 372,331 | 70,248 | 3,149,507 | 26 |
Fuel demand is an estimate: each state’s taxed gallons for the year (FHWA) are split among its counties by where the driving happens (EPA county vehicle miles, weighted by how much fuel each vehicle type burns), then shared to markets as above. Every state adds back to its FHWA total. Gasoline includes the ethanol blended into it; diesel is FHWA’s special fuels. Expect diesel to be least reliable along long-haul corridors, where trucks buy fuel in one county and burn it in another. Population: U.S. Census Bureau county estimates.
How good is it? Checked in October 2026 against the county retail sales Iowa and California publish: for gasoline, about 3–5% of gallons landed in the wrong rack market and a typical market was within 5–6%. For diesel, 14–21% landed in the wrong market and a typical market was 30–45% off, with truck-stop corridors such as Bakersfield and Stockton under-counted. Treat gasoline as a working estimate and diesel as a rough guide.
Cost to serve this market by pipeline
What it costs to move a gallon here from each pipeline origin at filed tariff rates: line-haul, the cost of financing the product on the way and in the tank, pipeline loss, and terminaling. It is a cost at filed rates, not a market price: add it to the origin spot price for a delivered cost. Lines marked "estimate" are placeholders until the pipeline or terminal figure is on file; in the routes table, * marks a figure taken from the tariff.
Gasoline: product adder
- ¢/gal · lowest adder
- 2.27
- ¢/gal · line-haul tariff · published
- 0.04
- ¢/gal · carrying cost · calculated
- 0.40
- ¢/gal · pipeline loss · estimate
- 0.33
- ¢/gal · terminaling · estimate
- 1.50
- days financed
- 7.6
Lowest route: from Sepulveda Junction on Kinder Morgan SFPP to Watson Station / Watson Station (Cal PUC No. 160 item 310).
How the lowest adder is worked, line by line
| Line | ¢/gal | Basis | Source or working |
|---|---|---|---|
| Line-haul tariff | 0.045 | published | Kinder Morgan SFPP Cal PUC No. 160 item 310: Sepulveda Junction → Watson Station / Watson Station (SFPP), 1.87 ¢/bbl |
| Carrying cost | 0.402 | calculated | $3.260000/gal × 5.9000% ÷ 365 × 7.632 days (0.132 in transit, 2.50 waiting on the cycle, 5.00 in terminal inventory); transit estimated: 13 pipeline miles at 4.0 mph (general estimate) |
| Pipeline loss | 0.326 | estimate | flat estimate $0.0033/gal, applied 1 time |
| Terminaling | 1.500 | estimate | Flat estimate: no fee on file for this terminal |
| Product adder | 2.273 | Sum of the lines above, over the origin spot price |
Every published route, lowest adder first (3 of 3). Origins are priced at the same index here. "Origin must be cheaper by" is how far below the lowest route's origin a route's own origin price has to be before that route wins.
| Origin | Pipeline | Delivery point | Terminals | Line-haul | Carrying | Loss | Terminaling | Adder ¢/gal | Days | Origin must be cheaper by | Tariff |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sepulveda Junction | Kinder Morgan SFPP | Watson Station / Watson Station (SFPP) | Altair Paramount; Kinder Morgan Tank Storage - Carson Terminal; Sfpp, L.p. - Watson Station | 0.04 | 0.40 | 0.33 | 1.50 | 2.27 | 7.6 | — | Cal PUC No. 160 item 310 |
| East Hynes | Kinder Morgan SFPP | Hynes Junction | Shell Oil Products US | 0.35 | 0.40 | 0.33 | 1.50 | 2.57 | 7.5 | 0.30 | Cal PUC No. 160 item 310 |
| Watson | Kinder Morgan SFPP | Hynes Junction | Shell Oil Products US | 0.35 | 0.40 | 0.33 | 1.50 | 2.57 | 7.5 | 0.30 | Cal PUC No. 160 item 310 |
Diesel: product adder
- ¢/gal · lowest adder
- 2.66
- ¢/gal · line-haul tariff · published
- 0.04
- ¢/gal · carrying cost · calculated
- 0.62
- ¢/gal · pipeline loss · estimate
- 0.50
- ¢/gal · terminaling · estimate
- 1.50
- days financed
- 7.6
Lowest route: from Sepulveda Junction on Kinder Morgan SFPP to Watson Station / Watson Station (Cal PUC No. 160 item 310).
How the lowest adder is worked, line by line
| Line | ¢/gal | Basis | Source or working |
|---|---|---|---|
| Line-haul tariff | 0.045 | published | Kinder Morgan SFPP Cal PUC No. 160 item 310: Sepulveda Junction → Watson Station / Watson Station (SFPP), 1.87 ¢/bbl |
| Carrying cost | 0.617 | calculated | $5.000000/gal × 5.9000% ÷ 365 × 7.632 days (0.132 in transit, 2.50 waiting on the cycle, 5.00 in terminal inventory); transit estimated: 13 pipeline miles at 4.0 mph (general estimate) |
| Pipeline loss | 0.500 | estimate | flat estimate $0.0050/gal, applied 1 time |
| Terminaling | 1.500 | estimate | Flat estimate: no fee on file for this terminal |
| Product adder | 2.661 | Sum of the lines above, over the origin spot price |
Every published route, lowest adder first (3 of 3). Origins are priced at the same index here. "Origin must be cheaper by" is how far below the lowest route's origin a route's own origin price has to be before that route wins.
| Origin | Pipeline | Delivery point | Terminals | Line-haul | Carrying | Loss | Terminaling | Adder ¢/gal | Days | Origin must be cheaper by | Tariff |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sepulveda Junction | Kinder Morgan SFPP | Watson Station / Watson Station (SFPP) | Altair Paramount; Kinder Morgan Tank Storage - Carson Terminal; Sfpp, L.p. - Watson Station | 0.04 | 0.62 | 0.50 | 1.50 | 2.66 | 7.6 | — | Cal PUC No. 160 item 310 |
| East Hynes | Kinder Morgan SFPP | Hynes Junction | Shell Oil Products US | 0.35 | 0.61 | 0.50 | 1.50 | 2.95 | 7.5 | 0.29 | Cal PUC No. 160 item 310 |
| Watson | Kinder Morgan SFPP | Hynes Junction | Shell Oil Products US | 0.35 | 0.61 | 0.50 | 1.50 | 2.96 | 7.5 | 0.29 | Cal PUC No. 160 item 310 |
Inputs and assumptions behind these figures
- Product value (for carrying cost and loss only): the prior day's spot price. Gasoline: OilPriceAPI GASOLINE_RBOB_USD, 2026-10-07. Diesel: OilPriceAPI ULSD_DIESEL_USD, 2026-10-07. These are the New York Harbor futures benchmarks, not a Gulf Coast price.
- Interest rate: SOFR 3.90% (2026-10-06) + 2.0 points.
- Transit (estimate): straight-line miles between the tariff origin and delivery point × 1.15, at 4.0 mph unless the pipeline has its own figure.
- Days financed (estimate): transit, plus half a 5-day shipping cycle waiting to lift, plus 5 days of stock at the terminal.
- Pipeline loss: the charge or volume deduction the tariff states, where it states one (marked *; a deduction is costed at the product value above). Otherwise an estimate of 0.10% of product value per pipeline, two for a joint rate; that includes pipelines that share out actual losses without publishing a figure.
- Terminaling: the carrier's terminal charge where its tariff states one (marked *), otherwise a flat 1.5¢/gal estimate.
- Rates used: each pipeline's ordinary filed rate. Committed, volume-tier, discount and bid rates are left out, as are conditional fees (shown on each pipeline page), additives, taxes and the value of line space.
- Assumption set in force from 2026-10-01; review by 2027-01-01.
Published line-haul rates, all products and rate types
- ¢/gal · cheapest gasoline · from Sepulveda Junction on Kinder Morgan SFPP
- 0.05
- ¢/gal · cheapest diesel · from Sepulveda Junction on Kinder Morgan SFPP
- 0.05
- ¢/gal · cheapest jet fuel · from Watson on Kinder Morgan SFPP
- 0.35
| Origin | Pipeline | Delivery point | Product | ¢/bbl | ¢/gal | Refineries at the origin | Tariff |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sepulveda Junction | Kinder Morgan SFPP | Watson Station / Watson Station (SFPP) | gasoline, distillate | 1.87 | 0.05 | Chevron El Segundo Refinery | Cal PUC No. 160 item 310 |
| Sepulveda Junction | Kinder Morgan SFPP | Watson Station / Watson Station (SFPP) | gasoline, distillate | 2.04 | 0.05 | Chevron El Segundo Refinery | FERC No. 195.21.0 item 310 |
| Sepulveda Junction | Kinder Morgan SFPP | Watson Station / Watson Station (SFPP) | gasoline, distillate | 2.20 | 0.05 | Chevron El Segundo Refinery | FERC No. 195.21.0 item 310 |
| Watson | Kinder Morgan SFPP | Hynes Junction per research | gasoline, distillate, jet fuel | 14.58 | 0.35 | Marathon Los Angeles Refinery (Carson Operations; formerly Tesoro Los Angeles Refinery); PBF Energy Torrance Refinery | Cal PUC No. 160 item 310 |
| East Hynes | Kinder Morgan SFPP | Hynes Junction per research | gasoline, distillate, jet fuel | 14.58 | 0.35 | Valero Wilmington Refinery (formerly Ultramar Wilmington Refinery) | Cal PUC No. 160 item 310 |
Supply resilience
- pipeline supply
- Limited
- pipeline systems delivering
- 2
- terminals on two or more pipelines
- 0
- terminals with no pipeline tariff
- 2
Two pipeline systems deliver here: one can cover for the other where a terminal is on both.
If a pipeline system goes down
| Pipeline system | Terminals it reaches here | With no other pipeline | Which |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kinder Morgan SFPP | 4 | 4 | Altair Paramount; Kinder Morgan Tank Storage - Carson Terminal; Sfpp, L.p. - Watson Station; Shell Oil Products US |
| Coastal Marine | 1 | 1 | Chemoil Terminals Corporation Carson Tank Farm |
Counts pipeline systems with a tariff delivery point here, not capacity, storage or contracts. A system with two lines into the market still counts once, and a terminal with one pipeline may also receive by truck, rail or water. For a refinery or pipeline outage across every market it touches, open that facility’s page.
Delivered ethanol cost
- ¢/gal over Chicago ethanol · lowest in the market
- +23.41
- ¢/gal over Chicago ethanol · highest
- +27.27
An estimate for each terminal: the cheapest of published rail rates and trucking from the nearest plants, plus basis, transload, terminaling and carrying cost. Each terminal page shows the build-up line by line.
| Terminal | ¢/gal over Chicago | By | From | Miles |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tesoro Logistics Operations LLC East Hynes Terminal | +23.41 | rail | Arkalon Ethanol LLC (Liberal, KS) | 1,371 |
| Chemoil Terminals Corporation Carson Tank Farm | +23.42 | rail | Arkalon Ethanol LLC (Liberal, KS) | 1,377 |
| Tesoro Logistics Operations LLC | +23.42 | rail | Arkalon Ethanol LLC (Liberal, KS) | 1,378 |
| Altair Paramount | +27.26 | rail | Arkalon Ethanol LLC (Liberal, KS) | 1,369 |
| Shell Oil Products US | +27.26 | rail | Arkalon Ethanol LLC (Liberal, KS) | 1,372 |
| Kinder Morgan Tank Storage - Carson Terminal | +27.27 | rail | Arkalon Ethanol LLC (Liberal, KS) | 1,378 |
| Sfpp, L.p. - Watson Station | +27.27 | rail | Arkalon Ethanol LLC (Liberal, KS) | 1,377 |
Nearby rack markets
Rack markets within 75 miles (straight line): where a buyer here could also lift.
| Rack market | Miles | Terminals | Pipelines |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wilmington, CA | 5 | 7 | 1 |
| Los Angeles, CA | 10 | 5 | 1 |
| Montebello, CA | 14 | 4 | 2 |
| Orange, CA | 18 | 4 | 2 |
| Van Nuys, CA | 30 | 2 | 1 |
| Colton, CA | 47 | 4 | 1 |
Rates are pipeline line-haul transcribed from published FERC tariffs; every figure cites its tariff and item. Cost to serve (netback) adds origin spot price and destination fees. "Confirmed" links match a tariff delivery point to the facility; "same city" means the point is in the facility's city — plausible, not proof; "per research" means the facility's research profile names the pipeline as an outlet.