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California imports Saudi Arabian gas for the first time since 2022

Data from oil analytics company Kpler revealed that fuel importers in California received gasoline from Saudi Arabia’s Jubail industrial port after maintenance at India's world's biggest refinery helped to open up the rare arbitrage.

Kpler reports that three gasoline shipments, totaling 886,000 barrels, from Saudi Arabia's Jubail industrial port have been discharged at Southern California's Olympus terminals in the last few months.

California hadn't imported fuel from Saudi Arabia since the year 2022. In 2025, about 40% of the gasoline imported by the terminal came from Jamnagar. This was because Jamnagar had a maintenance shutdown in April. Yui Torikata, Kpler's analyst, said that this forced buyers to look to Saudi Arabia for an alternative supplier. Fuel imports to California rose to the highest level in four years in may, as the state with the largest oil consumption in America sought to compensate for refinery problems at home by using other unconventional routes.

California regulators are proposing investments to increase fuel import capacity as the state prepares to close refineries that provide about 17% its fuel needs. Torikata stated that "there are concerns about the upcoming closures" of two refineries. Recent favorable freight costs also encouraged the large imports. (Reporting from Seher Dareen and Shariq Khan in London; editing by Barbara Lewis.)

(source: Reuters)