{"id":407985,"date":"2026-07-22T14:23:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T14:23:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/407985\/"},"modified":"2026-07-22T14:23:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T14:23:16","slug":"californias-displaced-oil-and-gas-workers-fund-is-a-lifeline-now-advocates-say-its-time-to-expand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/407985\/","title":{"rendered":"California\u2019s Displaced Oil and Gas Workers\u2019 Fund Is a Lifeline. Now Advocates Say It\u2019s Time to Expand"},"content":{"rendered":"

This story is part of KQED\u2019s series \u201cFlipping the Switch,\u201d examining California\u2019s transition to clean energy and what it means for you. Find the series and more of our climate coverage here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Joe Villarreal spent his second day at Northwest Metrology honing a new skill: calibrating torque wrenches. The company\u2019s Bakersfield headquarters is packed with pressure gauges, weights, and other specialized tools \u2014 all designed to ensure that everything from defibrillators to scales for weighing aircraft work without fail.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have an extensive client list,\u201d said owner Wayne Moule, who has been serving hospitals, refineries and aerospace companies for decades.<\/p>\n

Moule has a hard time finding employees who are a good fit for the painstaking work.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople come in, give us resumes that look great,\u201d Moule said, \u201cbut they just don\u2019t have the work ethic.\u200aThey don\u2019t care about the accuracy. They say they calibrate a piece of equipment, and they don\u2019t. And then I find out about it from a customer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Joe Villarreal\u2019s second day in his new job at Northwest Metrology in Bakersfield on May 27, 2026. Villarreal was displaced as an oil worker and got connected to a program helping oil workers find new careers.<\/p>\n

The work is highly technical, requiring up to three years of training and the ability to read and follow 2-inch-thick manuals with detailed instructions for using each piece of equipment.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you know how hard it is to get somebody to read a manual?\u201d Moule said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But the job was a good fit for Villarreal, a 55-year-old father of three who spent 30 years working in the oil and gas industry.<\/p>\n

In the early days of his career, he worked gritty, hands-on jobs in Bakersfield\u2019s scorching hot oil fields, checking equipment for leaks.<\/p>\n

Later, he switched to the administrative side, working out of the sun. In his final job as an engineering technician, Villarreal applied for new drilling permits, kept records and filed reports. He was laid off last year.<\/p>\n

\"\"Joe Villarreal\u2019s second day in his new job at Northwest Metrology in Bakersfield on May 27, 2026. Villarreal was displaced as an oil worker and got connected to a program helping oil workers find new careers. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe oil industry has always had its up and downs,\u201d Villarreal said. \u201cI\u2019m not really sure what happened this time \u2026 I thought we were doing good, the oil industry, and just, it just changed overnight for me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Villarreal landed his new job at Northwest Metrology in May through a state program designed to mitigate the impact on oil and gas workers as California transitions away from fossil fuels.<\/p>\n

The program connected Villarreal with three case managers who invited him to weekly \u201cjob hubs\u201d that featured presentations from employers looking to hire. With no experience in calibration, he was reluctant to apply for the job but decided, \u201cI should at least go talk to them \u2019cause it don\u2019t hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n

California\u2019s goal to achieve net zero emissions by 2045 has accelerated the decline of the oil and gas industry, which employs an estimated 94,000 people in high-paying, often unionized jobs with benefits.<\/p>\n

Since 2020, the closure or conversion of six refineries has eliminated roughly 2,000 jobs, dislodging highly skilled workers from decadeslong careers spent extracting and refining crude oil into gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, asphalt and petrochemicals.<\/p>\n

\"\"Wayne Moule, Owner at Northwest Metrology, has utilized a program helping to employ displaced oil workers in new jobs in Bakersfield on May 27, 2026.<\/p>\n

The Displaced Oil and Gas Workers Fund is California\u2019s most tangible effort to help workers transition to comparable jobs in other industries. The $30 million fund, created through a state law in 2022, provides grants to local workforce development boards, unions, and other groups in the most affected areas of the state: Kern, Contra Costa and Los Angeles counties.<\/p>\n

State records indicate the fund has helped more than 630 workers transition to new careers. And that could be an undercount, as grant recipients say they\u2019ve helped closer to a thousand workers like Villarreal get training and find new jobs.<\/p>\n

Even with its successes, proponents of the program say it\u2019s falling short. They are urging the state to extend it beyond the current end date in 2027 and provide new benefits, including wage replacement during transitions, college credits for on-the-job experience and at least two years of financial support during apprenticeships.<\/p>\n

\"\"Career Planner Francisco J. Avila works with Jose Vicente Arroyo, 58, as he navigates the next phase of his career in Bakersfield on May 27, 2026.<\/p>\n

One morning in late May, a dozen men gathered at the job center in Bakersfield, where they listened with a mixture of skepticism and guarded hope as job counselor Francisco Avila described why California employers want to hire former oil and gas workers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re looking for you,\u201d Avila said. \u201cYour experience, your knowledge, your skill set, they want to apply that to their industry.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Anthony Strauss, 45, worked for years\u00a0mixing chemical mud, which makes it easier to extract oil from wells. He lost his job in 2025 when the company he worked for moved to another state.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u200aWhen I was first laid off, they [the employer] had told me about this program,\u201d said Strauss, who has been out of work for nearly a year. \u201cHowever, in my personal life, I had taken on some other opportunities that didn\u2019t pan out as well as what they said that they would provide. So I came back here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nThe wake-up call\n<\/p>\n

The idea for the Displaced Oil and Gas Workers Fund grew out of the abrupt 2020 closure of the Marathon Refinery in Contra Costa County.<\/p>\n

Marathon gave employees just 60 days\u2019 notice and prohibited them from transferring to their other refineries, according to a 2025 report <\/a>by the UC Berkeley Labor Center.<\/p>\n

The company laid off over 750 workers, including 345 unionized staff who received only short-term severance. A year after the layoff, UC Labor Center surveyed the union workers and found nearly a third had taken early withdrawals from their retirement accounts to sustain themselves.<\/p>\n

\"\"Pamphlets and paperwork are seen at a presentation for displaced oil workers as they navigate the next phase of their careers in Bakersfield on May 27, 2026.<\/p>\n

The United Steel Workers union, whose members comprise the majority of people employed by refineries in California, anticipated members would need help taking the next step. The union lobbied state lawmakers to establish the displaced workers fund, and created the California Oil and Refinery Workers Readiness Program, or CORP, to help members use the resources.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe needed something that the members were gonna be able to grasp,\u201d said Rosi Romo, program director for CORP.<\/p>\n

CORP received $9 million of the new funds, enough to help at least 650 people, and recruited a handful of union members to act as navigators, who could help their coworkers consider their options and take action.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When Phillips 66 announced in October 2024 that it was closing its refineries in Carson and Wilmington, Romo said, \u201cWe were able to have them [navigators] on the ground talking to people, enrolling them, and so they were gaining momentum.\u201d<\/p>\n

Statewide, USW navigators have counseled 400 members, and by June, half of them were enrolled in courses paid for by the state.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Career Planner Francisco J. Avila leads a presentation and discussion with displaced oil workers as they navigate the next phase of their careers in Bakersfield on May 27, 2026.<\/p>\n

Wilfredo Cruz, a 37-year-old industrial mechanic at the Phillips 66 Wilmington refinery, became a navigator.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI could help myself and my coworkers to be able to find something new or at least get some sort of training, so we can find our next job,\u201d said Cruz, who had seen his dad become a respiratory therapist after getting laid off from a refinery job.<\/p>\n

Many asked Cruz if they should get started while still on the job. He told them to start as early as possible.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Some union members transitioned to careers in radiology, wastewater treatment and as EMTS.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cruz enrolled in a cybersecurity program at UC San Diego while he worked at the refinery, listening to lectures while commuting. Though he was laid off in March 2026, months before he expected to complete his education, his wife works a good job, and they have been able to swing it so far.<\/p>\n

\"\"Jose Vicente Arroyo, 58, left, and Anthony Strauss, 45, right, listen to a presentation for displaced oil workers as they navigate the next phase of their careers in Bakersfield on May 27, 2026.<\/p>\n

As a navigator, Cruz heard his coworkers\u2019 frustrations with the displaced workers\u2019 program and its limitations.<\/p>\n

Some who were working 12- to 16-hour days to wind down refinery operations did not have time for training programs.<\/p>\n

Others who were sole breadwinners for their families faced a dilemma that forced them to consider a lower-paying job or one that doesn\u2019t utilize their technical skills and knowledge.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou kinda have to choose,\u201d Cruz said. \u201cDo I go to school? Or do I need a job now? It\u2019s very hard to do both.\u201d<\/p>\n

A lot of workers over the age of 55 took early retirement, Cruz said. The prospect of going back to school and starting in a brand new industry didn\u2019t seem worth it.<\/p>\n

The refinery laid her off in April. She has since started to earn an associate\u2019s degree and is thinking about becoming a grant writer or driving a forklift.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always believe that when a door closes, a window opens,\u201d Wallace said. \u201cI just gotta figure out how to crawl through it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nLessons from Marathon\u2019s refinery closure\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

Refinery workers in Contra Costa County have also benefited from the Displaced Oil and Gas Workers Fund.<\/p>\n

When Marathon closed its refinery there in 2020, existing benefits weren\u2019t sufficient for laid-off employees, said Tamia Brown, executive director of the county\u2019s workforce development board.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But by last year, when Valero announced it would close its Benicia refinery and lay off 282 nonunion employees, the county agency was ready to help with a grant <\/a>of $4.3 million from the fund. They met with roughly 50 Valero workers by June.<\/p>\n

\"\"The Valero refinery in Benicia on Sept. 21, 2023.<\/p>\n

Brown expects that number to climb as severance and unemployment benefits dwindle.\u00a0But she said people don\u2019t have to wait until that happens to access benefits and other resources.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She said the funds are a huge help but would be even more effective if they covered a longer transition, to allow people to pursue apprenticeships and degree programs, which can take at least two years.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn order to get back to a comparable wage, a person may need to learn a new skill set or transfer to a different industry. That takes time,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Your<\/p>\n

From Laura Klivans, Climate Reporter at KQED:<\/p>\n

I know climate change is important to you. And it can feel overwhelming. This year, we want to empower the Bay Area to face our changing climate by bringing you stories about solutions.<\/p>\n

If this story helped you today, please consider donating to support our work. It takes just a moment to make your tax-deductible donation, and your gift keeps articles like this from KQED accessible to everyone.<\/p>\n

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