Kinder Morgan (NYSE: KMI), the pipeline operator, said that two of its fuel pipelines in Los Angeles have been shut since January 8 due to power outages, as the most destructive wildfires in the city’s history continued to burn uncontained on Thursday.
The company said the 515-mile (828.8 km) SFPP West pipeline and 566-mile CALNEV pipelines are not directly impacted by the fires, and it expects them to resume service once power has been restored.
“Yikes! That’s how a product gets to Phoenix, Las Vegas, and San Diego,” a West Coast fuel trader said on hearing of the shutdown.
SFPP West transports fuel from the Los Angeles Basin to Colton, Imperial, California, and Phoenix, Arizona.
According to Kinder Morgan’s website, CALNEV moves gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel from Colton, California, to terminals in Barstow, California, and Las Vegas, Nevada.
“They should be able to catch up, but it depends on the inventory situations,” the trader said, requesting anonymity as they are not authorized to speak publicly about another company’s operations.
California refineries had about 5.2 million barrels of CARB gasoline in stockpiles as of January 3, according to data from the California Energy Commission. So far, there have been no reports of refinery outages in the state due to the wildfires.
More than 300,000 customers were without power in California as of Thursday, according to figures from utility Southern California Edison.
