Washington's isolation from the country's vast pipeline network and its dependence on local petroleum markets ensures the refineries are crucial for providing energy that fuels the regional economy.
In 2011, the last year full data is available, 35 percent of finished products were exported to domestic consumers, chiefly in Oregon and California.
Washington's refineries supply upwards of 90 percent of Oregon's petroleum product[5] by way of the Olympic Pipeline and barge.
[7] Washington is the marginal supplier of refined product, providing cushion for any supply and demand imbalances in California markets.
[8] A number of other states are either required or opt to use reformulated gasoline in an effort to reduce smog-forming and toxic pollutants.
While PADD I features ample production capacity for federal reformulated gasoline, the only refineries outside of California capable of producing the blend required by state law are located in Washington and the Gulf Coast .
[12] Those refineries utilize domestically produced crude that travels from Edmonton to Vancouver via Kinder Morgan's 300,000 b/d Trans Mountain pipeline.