The headline evokes a political firestorm: a furious California mayor facing TV cameras after Shell abruptly closes the state’s largest refinery, threatening thousands of jobs and spiking gasoline prices. But checked against public records and industry data, that precise scenario has not occurred.

As of the latest available information, Shell does not operate California’s largest refinery. Its former Martinez refinery in the Bay Area was sold to PBF Energy in 2020, and the state’s biggest plant is widely identified as Chevron’s Richmond facility. There has been no official announcement by Shell, state regulators or the California Energy Commission that the company has suddenly shut down California’s largest refinery. A move of that scale would trigger immediate regulatory filings, union reactions and extensive local and national coverage.

What is real is the broader trend the headline taps into. In recent years, several California refineries — including facilities in Martinez and Rodeo — have been idled, downsized or converted to produce renewable fuels, provoking sharp clashes with local officials over lost union jobs, tax revenue and the cost of environmental cleanup. Mayors and county leaders have publicly accused major energy companies of making unilateral decisions that leave communities to manage economic and public‑health fallout.

The tension at the heart of the viral line is genuine: California is pushing hard on climate and clean‑energy goals while still relying heavily on a shrinking number of in‑state refineries. Each closure or conversion rekindles the same explosive questions: who pays, who decides, and how fast can a fossil‑fuel economy be dismantled without leaving workers and cities behind?