Oil refiners exploited the crisis': Report shows oil refiners are gouging California drivers (legal, gasoline)

[AnythingOutdoors]

It's cute how leaders in Sac pretend to be shocked and start pointing fingers when gas prices increase. High gas prices are a feature of the system, not a bug. When prices are low people buy trucks and SUVs, and drive much longer commutes and vacations.

It's all intentional. No point in lengthy review and permitting process for new refineries when new ICE vehicles are to be phased out by 2035.

And state leaders are doing what the people elected them to do, so go for it. Drop the outrage theater shtick and use this to push people to EVs. But they don't have the balls or the integrity to take such a political risk.

[NORTY FLATZ]

Originally Posted by sav858

According to Consumer Watchdog, in the first quarter of 2022, some California refiners earned more than twice as those reported by the same refiners in other regions and as much as five times more than in the first quarter of 2021.

"These profit reports show the Golden State Gouge is real. Oil refiners exploited the crisis in Ukraine to make a mint from California drivers," said Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog.
[/i]

Yup, there's a "gouge" going on all right. Only it's NOT from the companies that drill/transport/store/refine/transport again and finally retail the fuel to you. It's CARB. And CARB only. Their stupid regulations are the direct cause of "why" we have $6 a gallon gas. California is a "FUEL ISLAND."
Anyone that tries to smuggle in "non-CARB compliant" gasoline is subject to $10,000 fines for each transaction.
So, if you wanna get Arizona gas prices, you gotta do away with CARB.

[MechAndy]

Blaming these high gas prices on greedy oil companies doesn’t come close to telling the truth.
This last 18 months or so can be blamed on Joe Biden and this administration.

Don’t expect him to accept the blame.
He blames all his failures on others.

The way he switches back and forth between Putin and greedy oil companies is hard to keep up with.
This price surge is easily seen starting before the Ukraine conflict so that’s an easy lie to get a Pinocchio point with.
Same can be said with the greedy oil companies.

The other day when asked about infant formula he said if he could predict the future he wouldn’t be in this spot or something to that effect.
They knew for 4 months but sat on their hands, equaling another lie easy to pick apart.

He said recently that there was no vaccine before he took office but records show he was vaccinated and boosted prior taking office.

This is his strategy thinking that most won’t fact check him.
Don’t let these lies fool you.

I say this as an old liberal.

[JGC97]

Still in shock after filling my tank this morning. $91.75 for a little over 15 gallons. My tank holds 23 gallons and I never let it go below quarter of a tank (keeps the engine cleaner) but, holy cow . Prices in my area are $6/gal. I can't imagine what they are in the more expensive parts of the state. If we don't start pumping again and bring prices down, I may have to sell a kidney the next time I have to fill up. Ouch!

[Tedster24]

Even Larry Summers (Obama administrator) is criticizing Biden's Energy Policy.
Begging Iran, Saudi Arabia, even Venezuela to help us out of this one seems rather insane.
We'll continue to deplete reserves as a bandaid measure in the meantime.

[CA4Now]

Originally Posted by Tedster24

Even Larry Summers (Obama administrator) is criticizing Biden's Energy Policy.

Biden's energy policy has little to do with why California has the highest gasoline prices in the country.

"California officials have had repeated warnings over the last two decades that the state’s unique blend of gasoline is susceptible to supply shortages and sharp price spikes.

But despite multiple reports and special committees, California has struggled to find solutions as it tries to rapidly reduce its reliance on fossil fuels.

Motorists got a reminder of this in recent weeks as prices hit record levels in an increasingly fragile gasoline market, after almost half the state’s refineries experienced recent or ongoing outages, pushing the supply of West Coast gasoline to its lowest level in a decade.

Yet state leaders remain far from a comprehensive fix.

...“We’ve got to make longer-run plans and not just wait until the crisis is upon us,” said Severin Borenstein, the director of UC Berkeley’s Energy Institute at the Haas School of Business, who sat on statewide committees in 1999 and 2015 aimed at finding possible solutions for the state’s volatile fuel market.

None were implemented, he said.

A federal judge in San Diego recently dismissed a lawsuit that alleged some of the world’s largest oil companies colluded to keep supplies low in California, driving profits up.

Amy Myers Jaffe, the managing director of Tufts University Climate Policy Lab and a former executive director for energy and sustainability at UC Davis, said it’s too early to know whether there’s been market manipulation, but with a limited number of refiners in California — many owned by the same company — there are “multiple ways refiners could game the system.” She called for adequate regulation..."

https://www.latimes.com/california/s...plies-unstable

[V8 Vega]

Bidens energy policies have everything to do with our high gas prices, And we haven't got into home heating bills yet.

[Tedster24]

Biden's energy policy has little to do with why California has the highest gasoline prices in the country.

That "little" might be bigger than you'd think.

[CA4Now]

Originally Posted by V8 Vega

Bidens energy policies have everything to do with our high gas prices,

Now, Vega; you mean communism has nothing to do with California's gasoline prices this time?

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by sav858

No surprise here, this happens all the time, the CA surcharge never came down after some refinery explosion in SoCal a couple of years ago. They'll probably keep prices high forever now because they know none of our politicians will do anything.

Whatever happened to the environmental movement's embrace of diesel cars, so people could run them off of vegetable oil? If even 20% of drivers did that, it would get the oil companies' attention. The only problem is, that the price of fresh vegetable oil--soy being the cheapest, has gone up over the years. Even bought in bulk, it's more expensive than gas today. And running a car off of used cooking oil is a hassle.