"When these spikes happen, it triggers profits. It's a true fact," said Siva Gunda, vice chair of the California Energy Commission.
Experts representing the oil industry strongly pushed back on the proposal, arguing it would add more regulations and costs to their business.
Neale Mahoney, a Stanford economics professor, said he had no "smoking gun evidence" of oil companies gaming the market, though he said the proposal on the table would likely prevent refiners from squeezing money from consumers.
The state's new Division of Petroleum Market Oversight estimates price spikes over the past two years cost Californians between $525 million and $2.1 billion.
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