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Chevron Taps Alternate Route in Wake of Fire

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Chevron is tapping an alternative supply route to get gasoline to Southern California following the spectacular fire Friday at the oil company’s El Segundo refinery.

No injuries were caused by the blaze, which company officials attribute to an oil spill that followed the rupture of a large pump at one of the refinery’s three main processing facilities. But the refinery, which supplies from 12% to 14% of Southern California’s motor fuel, won’t be able to operate at more than two-thirds normal capacity for two to four weeks, Chevron spokesman Mike Marcy said Monday.

To keep the company’s Southern California supplies from dwindling, Marcy said, tankers will be sent to a Chevron refinery in Richmond, Calif., to get fuel for the region. Marcy said Friday’s fire also has forced the company to pipe fuel from Texas to Arizona, which is also served by the El Segundo plant.

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