"Price spikes at the pump are profit spikes for Big Oil," said Newsom in media release. "Refiners should be required to plan ahead and backfill supplies to keep prices stable, instead of playing games to earn even more profits."
The governor's plan directs the California Energy Commission to require petroleum refiners to maintain a minimum gasoline inventory in hopes of keeping supplies - and gas prices - stable even when refineries undergo maintenance, which has historically cut supply.
According to Newsom, it's that diminished supply during periods of high demand that drove past price spikes. If this regulation had been in effect in 2023, the governor's office said, drivers would have saved upwards of $650 million in gasoline costs.
The move plan provoked backlash from representatives of California's oil industry, who called his claims that the industry planned maintenance during busy driving seasons are 'purposely misleading' and not rooted in fact.
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