Chevron's El Segundo Refinery, California

Said to be the largest refinery on the West Coast with a rated capacity of 290,000 barrels per day, while covering approximately 1,000 acres, the facility converts crude oil into fuels, asphalt, and other petrochemical products, mostly into gasoline for the cars of Southern California. It is one of five major refineries serving Southern California. The crude comes from Kern County, Ecuador, the Middle East, and from the Alaska Pipeline, via tankers. There is no port on shore here. Tankers park a mile and a half offshore, connecting to delivery pipelines that rise up from the ocean floor. This refinery and the company town next to it is called El Segundo because the first (El Primero) west coast refinery for Chevron was built earlier in Richmond, California. Chevron, based in the San Francisco Bay area, is one of the world's largest oil companies.