Oil Refinery to Close; Up to 200 Face Layoffs : Carson: Fletcher Oil blames the economy for the temporary shutdown. Most workers will be let go by the end of December.

Fletcher Oil & Refining Co. dealt another blow to Carson’s struggling economy with Thursday’s announcement that the company will temporarily shut down and lay off most of its 200 workers by the end of December.

Fletcher President James Lopeman blamed poor economic conditions for the closure, saying the company has been unable to turn a profit because of a dramatic drop in petroleum prices in Los Angeles, where much of its crude oil is sold.

Fletcher, a subsidiary of New Mexico-based Hondo Oil & Gas Co., also temporarily shut down operations in 1985 and 1988. In addition to gas and diesel fuel, the 30,000-barrel-a-day oil refinery manufactures petroleum components for production of asphalt.

Production at the refinery will shut down in stages, and Lopeman added that it is unclear when full operations will resume.

Fletcher’s decision comes on the heels of announcements earlier this year by Monsanto Chemical and Shell Oil companies to close their Carson plants by January. Shell is expected to lay off more than 450 workers in closing its refinery, and Monsanto plans to lay off 47 employees.

Carson officials expect the closures to worsen the city’s already gloomy financial outlook. The city anticipates a $2-million revenue shortfall by the end of fiscal 1991-92. Sales tax revenues, which account for half the city’s income, are expected to total $13 million, about $1 million short of projections.

City Administrator Larry Olson said that fewer Carson workers would mean lower sales tax revenues from local businesses. “We’re very concerned about it,” Olson said.

Walter Neil, a Fletcher spokesman and president of the Carson Chamber of Commerce, said the layoffs also affect “the dry cleaner on the corner. There’s a lot of lost revenue.”

Mayor Michael I. Mitoma called Fletcher’s predicament “a tragedy.”

“This really tugs at my heart,” Mitoma said. “Fletcher has really been one of the outstanding contributors to the city. It’s like losing a member of my family. Many of my neighbors worked there.”

At the Fletcher refinery, the news of layoffs, which were announced to employees Wednesday, hit them hard.

“It was like a brick hitting my chest,” said Cosmas Joseph, a construction superintendent whose last day of work was Thursday. “It’s going to hurt me badly.”

Joseph, 61, of Carson, said he will apply for unemployment insurance, but those benefits will only make up part of his $67,400 annual salary. Severance pay and benefits are now being negotiated by the employees’ union.

Tony Gonzales, 28, a platformer unit operator, said he was stunned by the announcement.

“I knew the company had problems, but that’s industry-wide,” said Gonzales, a Wilmington resident who is married and has three children. “For a while it’s gonna be wait and see.”