FEATURE | California refinery closures spark pipeline race to West Coast as rival refiners bet on waterborne fuels

Three groups have outlined different proposals to fill the near 280,000 barrel-per-day supply void the closures create. These include refiner HF Sinclair, a unit of pipeline operator ONEOK, and a partnership between refiner Phillips 66 and midstream-focused Kinder Morgan.

However, the first to reach a final investment decision may be the only one to secure a potential multi-billion-dollar windfall because multiple pipelines to the West Coast would eat into each other's margins, which are already limited due to the availability of waterborne imports to California.

"When you see multiple pipeline projects being proposed at the same time, typically only one of them gets done," said Skip York, Chief Energy Strategist at Turner, Mason Co.