Chevron Richmond Refinery
Chevron U.S.A. Inc. · Chevron Corporation · Richmond, CA
- bpd crude capacity · EIA 2026
- 245,271
- pipelines it injects into
- 1
- delivery points reachable
- 13
- terminals on those points
- 20
- terminals reachable by sea
- 14
- events on record
- 8
Capability
Crude distillation 245,271 bpd operable, 245,271 operating (EIA-820, as of 2026-01-01). Downstream units below, barrels per calendar day.
Conversion — makes gasoline and diesel from heavier oil
| Catalytic cracking (FCC) | 80,000 |
| Hydrocracking — gas oil | 87,260 |
Upgrading
| Catalytic reforming — low pressure | 59,000 |
| Vacuum distillation | 123,456 sd |
Treating — meets sulfur specs
| Hydrotreating — diesel | 64,800 sd |
| Hydrotreating — kerosene & jet | 96,000 sd |
| Hydrotreating — gasoline | 64,800 sd |
| Hydrotreating — naphtha / reformer feed | 57,600 sd |
| Hydrotreating — heavy gas oil | 65,000 sd |
Production capacity · barrels per stream day
Crude slate
Not specifically documented in sources reviewed beyond general waterborne domestic/international supply; May 2026 SPR cargo (Bayou Choctaw Sweet) was a one-off emergency delivery, not representative of the normal slate.
Base oils
Operating. Chevron's Group II/II+ specification sheet (chevronbaseoils.com, 07/2019) lists the Neutral Oil R-series slate and shows 100R, 220R and 600R available on the US West Coast; Lube Report Americas (2023-07-26) quotes Chevron officials on current Richmond capacity and the July 2023 start of 4 cSt Group III (Nexbase 3043) alongside 6 cSt Nexbase 3060 made since 2019. Chevron posted new Group II prices effective 2025-12-02 (Lubes'n'Greases). Chevron's own Richmond newsroom pages (richmond.chevron.com, chevron.com/newsroom) returned HTTP 403 and were not read.
| API group | b/d | As published | Basis | In effect | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group II ★ | 19,000 | 19,000 b/d Chevron officials gave the plant's capacity breakdown as 19,000 b/d Group II and 2,500 b/d Group III, adding that the plant can shift output between the two according to demand. Includes Group II+ (100R), which is not split out. |
company stated | 2023-07 | Lubes'n'Greases medium |
| Group III ★ | 2,500 | 2,500 b/d Same statement by Chevron officials; Group III output (Nexbase 3043 4 cSt and 3060 6 cSt) is flexible against Group II. |
company stated | 2023-07 | Lubes'n'Greases medium |
| Group II | 20,000 | 20,000 b/d Older nominal figure (recalculated nameplate reported to NPRA in 2007 after debottlenecking) cited again in 2011 and 2013 Lube Report articles; superseded by the 2023 breakdown, kept for history. Not preferred. |
nameplate | 2007 → 2023-07 | Lubes'n'Greases medium |
- Process route
- Hydrocracking + catalytic dewaxing, Hydroisomerization
- Feedstock
- Internal vacuum gas oil
- Brands
- Chevron Base Oils (Neutral Oil 100R/220R/600R), NEXBASE (Group III: 3043, 3060)
- Owners
- Chevron Corporation 100%
Grades offered
| Group | Grade | cSt @100 °C | Brand | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group II+ | Chevron Neutral Oil 100R (KV100 4.15-4.55 cSt; VI 116 min) | 4.4 | Chevron Base Oils | Chevron high |
| Group II | Chevron Neutral Oil 220R (KV40 40.0-46.0 cSt; VI 95 min) | — | Chevron Base Oils | Chevron high |
| Group II | Chevron Neutral Oil 600R (KV100 11.7-12.9 cSt; VI 95 min) | 12.3 | Chevron Base Oils | Chevron high |
| Group III | NEXBASE 3043 (4 cSt) | 4.0 | NEXBASE | Lubes'n'Greases high |
| Group III | NEXBASE 3060 (6 cSt) | 6.0 | NEXBASE | Lubes'n'Greases high |
Base oil events and projects
-
2025-12-02
Posted price change
Group II
Chevron lowered Group II posted prices effective Dec. 2, 2025: 100R down 30 cents/gal, 220R and 600R down 35 cents/gal, 'to reflect current market conditions' (company-wide posting, applies to Richmond and Pascagoula grades). actual 2025-12-02 Lubes'n'Greases high
-
2023-07-26
Expansion
Group III richmond-group-ii-plus-and-group-iii
Chevron began making 4 cSt Group III (NEXBASE 3043) at Richmond in July 2023, adding to the 6 cSt NEXBASE 3060 made since 2019; officials gave capacity as 19,000 b/d Group II and 2,500 b/d Group III and said the 4 cSt start reduces Group II output. The article was published July 26, 2023; the exact July start date was not given. announced 2023-07-26 · actual 2023-07 Lubes'n'Greases high
-
2021-10-04
Other
Group III
Chevron agreed to buy Neste's Group III base oil business including the NEXBASE brand, its qualifications and approvals (price undisclosed); Richmond's Group III, previously tolled for Neste since mid-2019, is sold as OEM-approved NEXBASE. Article dated Oct. 5, 2021 says the deal was announced 'Monday'. Lubes'n'Greases medium
-
2019-06-24
Conversion
Group II+ richmond-group-ii-plus-and-group-iii
Chevron Products Company announced it would begin Group II+ production at Richmond and Pascagoula (100R upgraded to Group II+ quality, 220R Noack volatility lowered) using a processing scheme designed with Chevron Lummus Global catalyst technology, and that Richmond would make NEXBASE Group III for Neste under a supply and production agreement; Richmond can make Group II, II+ and III without supplemental feedstocks. F+L Daily (Fuels & Lubes) high
Not established from public sources: Capacity by group (19,000 b/d Group II, 2,500 b/d Group III) is Chevron officials' statement reported by Lube Report Americas in 2023, not an operator document; Chevron's Richmond pages (richmond.chevron.com, chevron.com/newsroom) returned HTTP 403 so no operator page was read, and the 2019 announcement is recorded from F+L Daily's report of the Chevron release. Group II+ (100R) share of the 19,000 b/d is not split out. Plant attribution of 100R/220R/600R to Richmond is based on the spec sheet's US West Coast availability column plus 2011/2013 Lube Report statements that Richmond shares Chevron's core 100/220/600 slate; the sheet does not name plants. viscosity_cst_100c for 100R and 600R are midpoints of the spec ranges; 220R lists KV100 as 'Report'. Logistics modes are not stated in any page opened. No outage, turnaround or force majeure for the base oil plant since 2020 was found in free pages. Ownership is the refinery owner (Chevron U.S.A. Inc., wholly owned by Chevron Corporation) as named in Chevron's permit and press material; no separate base-oil JV exists. 1 value is held back because only a paid source supports it.
Crude in & products out
| Direction | Mode | Route | Point / origin | Products | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| crude in | marine | Chevron Richmond Long Wharf A 2016 California State Lands Commission document says the Long Wharf is the exclusive means by which the refinery imports feedstocks. Crude, gas oil and other feedstocks are transferred from vessels through pipelines to storage tanks at the refinery. Pipeline crude on Chevron Pipe Line's KLM system no longer reaches the refinery: a 1995 California PUC resolution records that the suspension of those receipts is permanent. |
Waterborne crude oil, gas oil and other feedstocks. Grades and regions are not stated. | crude | source |
| products out | pipeline | Kinder Morgan SFPP Richmond is an origin point in SFPP's tariffs, and Kinder Morgan's March 2025 Pacific Operations brochure shows the Chevron refinery connected to Richmond Station by gathering line. Richmond Station is the origin of the Bay Area lines to Oakland, Oakland Airport, Brisbane and San Francisco International Airport, and connects to the North Line system through Concord. There is no breakout storage at Richmond. |
SFPP Richmond Station, by gathering line from the refinery | gasoline distillate jet fuel | inferred |
| products out | pipeline | Bay Area Products Line Chevron Pipe Line Company's proprietary line. A 2009 San Francisco Bay Regional Water Board notice describes it as an 8-inch system carrying refined products from the Richmond Refinery to Bethany Station near Brentwood, with legs to Sacramento, Banta and San Jose. The grades carried are not stated. |
At the refinery | source | |
| products out | marine | Chevron Richmond Long Wharf NOAA Coast Pilot 7 lists the wharf for receipt and shipment of petroleum products, with pipelines from the wharf to the refinery. A 2016 State Lands Commission document calls the wharf the primary means by which finished products leave the refinery, together with trucks and trains. Berths 1 and 4 handle ships and Berths 2 and 3 handle ships and barges. |
source | ||
| products out | truck rack | Chevron U.S.A. Inc. Richmond terminal truck rack (IRS T-68-CA-4616) The IRS terminal list carries Chevron USA Incorporated, Richmond, at 155 Castro Street as terminal T-68-CA-4616. A 2016 State Lands Commission document says finished products leave the refinery by the Long Wharf together with trucks and trains. |
gasoline distillate | inferred | |
| products out | rail | Rail loading at the refinery (railroad not named) A 2016 State Lands Commission document says finished products leave the refinery partly by train. Which products move by rail is not stated. The City of Richmond's use permit bars crude oil and gas oil imports by rail without further permits, and Chevron reports that it imports none by rail. |
source |
Docks
The docks at this facility and, where a ship agent or port publishes it, the largest vessel each berth takes. Channel conditions change; these figures are a guide, not clearance to sail.
Chevron Richmond Long Wharf · crude in, products out
- Owned by Chevron Products Co.
- Receipt of crude oil; receipt and shipment of petroleum products.
- 3,065 ft of berthing space, 40 to 50 ft depth alongside, deck height 15 ft.
- Tank storage of 20.2 million barrels. Pipelines extend from the wharf to the refinery.
- Six active transfer berths. Berths 1 and 4 handle ships; Berths 2 and 3 handle ships and barges.
- Berths 1 to 4 accept ocean-going vessels, as stated in Chevron's January 2026 terminal and port plan filed with CARB.
- The refinery's exclusive import route for feedstocks, as stated in a 2016 State Lands Commission document.
Source: NOAA Coast Pilot 7 ; California State Lands Commission, Chevron Long Wharf Maintenance and Efficiency Project Mitigated Negative Declaration ; Chevron Richmond Long Wharf Terminal and Port Plan (CARB), read 2026-10-11.
Pipeline reach
| Pipeline | Injects at | Delivery points | Terminals | Lowest ¢/bbl | Median ¢/bbl |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kinder Morgan SFPP |
Richmond per research
|
13 | 20 | 33.23 | 54.31 |
By sea
| Lane | Evidence | Vessels | Terminals | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bay Area → Eureka (Humboldt Bay) The CEC/Stillwater fuel-flow map shows a "ship/barge — San Francisco to Eureka" lane. A community source (undated, MEDIUM) gives about 2.5 million gallons a delivery, three a month, from Richmond, and about 65% of the county's petroleum barged in. |
high 2014 | ocean barge | 1 | California Energy Commission (G. Schremp), California Transportation Fuel Overview & Crude Oil Trends, OSPR Spill Prevention Day, 14 May 2014, slide 4 (Western States fuel flows), lane 21 |
| Bay Area and Puget Sound refineries → Los Angeles / Long Beach marine terminals Northern California "regularly supplies parts of Southern California and Oregon by marine vessel"; Southern California took about 16,000 b/d of distillate by marine from other West Coast regions (2013). CEC (2024): after the Martinez/Rodeo conversions the Bay Area will no longer have surplus gasoline for Southern California; Washington cargoes are a regular source. |
medium 2013 | tanker, ATB | 4 | EIA, West Coast Transportation Fuels Markets (Stillwater Associates for EIA), Sept 2015, pp.24, 30-33, 38-40; California Energy Commission (2024) |
| Bay Area → Portland (occasional) The CEC/Stillwater map shows a "ship/barge — San Francisco to Portland" lane, but under 10% of Oregon's products come from Salt Lake City and the Bay Area combined, and the Northwest "typically does not receive product from other regions". |
medium 2014 | tanker | 6 | California Energy Commission (G. Schremp), California Transportation Fuel Overview & Crude Oil Trends, OSPR Spill Prevention Day, 14 May 2014, slide 4 (Western States fuel flows), lane 6; Oregon Department of Energy (2019); EIA, West Coast Transportation Fuels Markets (Stillwater Associates for EIA), Sept 2015 |
| Portland terminals → Umatilla and Pasco (Columbia–Snake river barges) Petroleum barges "originate at the Port of Portland and are offloaded to fuel racks at the Ports of Umatilla and Pasco": 902,240 short tons in 2019 (737,983 in 2020), about 38% of upbound tonnage and declining. No evidence was found for The Dalles or Lewiston/Clarkston. |
high 2019 | river barge | 3 | USDA AMS / Washington State University (Jessup et al.), The Importance of Columbia-Snake River Navigation to U.S. Agriculture, sec. 8.2 Petroleum; Oregon Department of Energy |
All 14 terminals reachable by sea
| Terminal | Location | Lane | Miles along lanes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chevron USA Incorporated - Eureka | Eureka, CA | Bay Area → Eureka (Humboldt Bay) | 272 |
| Petro-Diamond Terminal Company | Long Beach, CA | Bay Area and Puget Sound refineries → Los Angeles / Long Beach marine terminals | 438 |
| Shore Terminals, LLC - Wilmington, CA | Wilmington, CA | Bay Area and Puget Sound refineries → Los Angeles / Long Beach marine terminals | 439 |
| Vopak Terminal Los Angeles Inc | Wilmington, CA | Bay Area and Puget Sound refineries → Los Angeles / Long Beach marine terminals | 439 |
| Olympus Terminals LLC | Long Beach, CA | Bay Area and Puget Sound refineries → Los Angeles / Long Beach marine terminals | 441 |
| TLP Management | Portland, OR | Bay Area → Portland (occasional) | 745 |
| Shore Terminals, LLC - Portland, OR | Portland, OR | Bay Area → Portland (occasional) | 745 |
| Chevron USA Incorporated - Portland | Portland, OR | Bay Area → Portland (occasional) | 747 |
| Kinder Morgan Portland Liquid Terminals | Portland, OR | Bay Area → Portland (occasional) | 747 |
| McCall Oil and Chemical Corp. | Portland, OR | Bay Area → Portland (occasional) | 748 |
| Shell Oil Products U.S. | Portland, OR | Bay Area → Portland (occasional) | 748 |
| Tidewater Terminal - Umatilla | Umatilla, OR | Portland terminals → Umatilla and Pasco (Columbia–Snake river barges) (river barge) | 939 |
| Tesoro Logistics Operations - Pasco | Pasco, WA | Portland terminals → Umatilla and Pasco (Columbia–Snake river barges) (river barge) | 971 |
| Tidewater Terminal - Snake River | Pasco, WA | Portland terminals → Umatilla and Pasco (Columbia–Snake river barges) (river barge) | 972 |
Substitutes
Other refineries injecting into the same pipelines — the supply that could backfill an outage here.
Kinder Morgan SFPP
- Tesoro Refining & Marketing CO · Carson, CA 365,000 bpd
- Chevron USA INC · El Segundo, CA 285,000 bpd
- Torrance Refining CO LLC · Torrance, CA 160,000 bpd
- Martinez Refining CO LLC · Martinez, CA 156,400 bpd
- Western Refining Company LP · El Paso, TX 133,000 bpd
- Ultramar INC · Wilmington Refinery, CA 85,000 bpd
Events
-
2026-07
outage
Small gasoline-mixture spill (less than one barrel) into San Francisco Bay during maintenance work at the Richmond refinery wharf. source
-
2026-05
other
First-ever delivery of US Strategic Petroleum Reserve crude to California: approximately 460,000 bbl of Bayou Choctaw Sweet crude discharged at Chevron Richmond (with 50,000 bbl going to El Segundo), amid Middle East-driven crude supply disruption. source
-
2026-01
other
Eighth annual modernization-project compliance report reviewed by the Richmond Planning Commission for 2024 operations: no net increase in criteria pollutants, 84% utilization, flaring events down from 25 (2023) to 11 (2024). source
-
2025-12-02
Posted price change
Group II
Chevron lowered Group II posted prices effective Dec. 2, 2025: 100R down 30 cents/gal, 220R and 600R down 35 cents/gal, 'to reflect current market conditions' (company-wide posting, applies to Richmond and Pascagoula grades). source
-
2024-11
outage
Spill at Chevron's Richmond Wharf prompted a state (OSPR) spill response, later concluded, with the source investigation continuing; no observed wildlife impacts reported. source
-
2023-07-26
Expansion
Group III
Chevron began making 4 cSt Group III (NEXBASE 3043) at Richmond in July 2023, adding to the 6 cSt NEXBASE 3060 made since 2019; officials gave capacity as 19,000 b/d Group II and 2,500 b/d Group III and said the 4 cSt start reduces Group II output. The article was published July 26, 2023; the exact July start date was not given. source
-
2021-10-04
Other
Group III
Chevron agreed to buy Neste's Group III base oil business including the NEXBASE brand, its qualifications and approvals (price undisclosed); Richmond's Group III, previously tolled for Neste since mid-2019, is sold as OEM-approved NEXBASE. Article dated Oct. 5, 2021 says the deal was announced 'Monday'. source
-
2019-06-24
Conversion
Group II+
Chevron Products Company announced it would begin Group II+ production at Richmond and Pascagoula (100R upgraded to Group II+ quality, 220R Noack volatility lowered) using a processing scheme designed with Chevron Lummus Global catalyst technology, and that Richmond would make NEXBASE Group III for Neste under a supply and production agreement; Richmond can make Group II, II+ and III without supplemental feedstocks. source
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.