California energy regulators see bright side to shrinking gasoline supplies

PoliticoPro ^ | 2/09/2025 07:13 PM EST | Noah Baustin

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Rising imports have helped stabilize the fuel market, officials said at a meeting Tuesday.

California’s petroleum industry regulators are anticipating that the state’s shrinking oil refining capacity could spur more competition in the gasoline market, potentially reducing the likelihood of price spikes at the pump.

What happened: Top state energy officials said Tuesday during a meeting of the Independent Consumer Fuels Advisory Committee that increasing imports of gasoline to California this year are beginning to transform the market dynamics in the state.

“It may be oversimplification, but that change from episodic imports after price spikes to steady-state imports seems to have resulted, at least in part, in more price stability in California,” Tai Milder, director of the state’s Division of Petroleum Market Oversight, said during the meeting.

Why it matters: Fears that the closure of two of California’s oil refineries would cause sharp price increases spurred state leaders to adopt major refinery and drilling industry-friendly reforms this year. If gasoline imports are able to stabilize prices, that could reshape the conversation around the state’s transportation fuels policy.

Context: A February fire at the PBF Energy refinery in Martinez forced the facility to operate at limited capacity this year, creating a scenario similar to a refinery closure, Milder said.

The reduced refining spurred an increase in gasoline imports to the West Coast, with the monthly average reaching its largest figure since 2007 in the first nine months of the year, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

“One of the things we saw this year is a consistent historic level of imports coming in,” said California Energy Commission Vice Chair Siva Gunda.

Gunda acknowledged that the state’s refining market has become concentrated — four companies control 98 percent of California’s oil refining capacity — and said officials must keep their regulations...

[E. Pluribus Unum]

You can't make this stuff up.

[Jonty30]

A dead market is a stabilized market.

[lastchance]

You could, but who would believe you?

[Responsibility2nd]

How? How can they see anything with their heads up their a$$eS?

[Fungi]

Pure gobbledygook as Rush used to say.

[Sam Otto Long]

It has been said, You cannot fix Stupid. California has been blessed with an overabundance of STUPID!

[LastDayz]

What is it with the west coast and their love for word salads?

[SuperLuminal]

This whole article and the discussions it quotes are definitely an indication of widespread use of hallucinogenic compounds in that 3rd-world s_hole...

[Rinnwald]

The Nobel prize in economics is coming up for 2026.

[MCF]

It is the only way to support their fantasies.

[Doctor Congo]

Can’t have a spike in prices if it is always going up.

[xp38]

So where is this refined gasoline coming from? I assume Mexico as the nearest foreign entity.

[Organic Panic]

The regulators don’t care about gas prices. They get a government card to pay for it.

[JerseyDvl]

Ahhh yes. The good old “less is more” Orwellian newspeak we’ve come to expect from communists.

[j.havenfarm]

Of course. And these tyrants’ slightly reducing the pressure of their boot from the throat of the market has caused gas prices in the city to drag more than $.30 in the last 3 or 4 weeks

[rbg81]

The gas price in CA will stabilize at $20/gallon. Great news!!

[Orosius]

I don’t know if they still do, but the movie studios used to have their own gas stations on the lot, where the executives could fill up their cars for free. This is how they insulate themselves from the consequences of their political fantasies.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

That was my guestimate too. Good times!

[hinckley buzzard]

A lot of it is coming from Asia.

[markman46]

i drought that mexico is going to make two different blends of gas for california