50+ public interest and environmental groups oppose CA Oil Refiner Bailout, urge CA to stand strong on accountability

June 27, 2025

Sacramento, CA  – As the California Energy Commission (CEC) proposed a list of oil refinery strategies to Governor Newsom, including key regulatory rollbacks, 51 public interest and environmental groups are urging the state to stand strong on refinery accountability and consumer protection in a letter to Governor Newsom, Senate Pro Tem Mike McGuire and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas. 

The groups pointed to new state data showing oil refiners making a killing off California consumers – with a combined gross refining margin and distribution margin of $1.71 in April, twice the national and historical averages.

“California oil refiners do not need a bailout. New data posted by the California Energy Commission shows oil refiners made a retail gross refining profit margin of $1.02 per gallon in April,” the groups wrote in the letter. “In addition, the data shows that the distribution margin, which includes the Mystery Gasoline Surcharge, was .69 cents per gallon in April. Combined these extraordinary profit and overhead costs add more to a gallon of gasoline than the cost of crude oil, as CEC created graphic below shows.”

“California’s oil refining and distribution sector are charging Californians more than double what they take in elsewhere. It would be perverse to give this industry more subsidies.”

“We urge you, instead, to insist that the Administration finish the job it started and that the legislature directed it to do in special sessions in 2023 and 2024: propound rules for a price gouging penalty, finalize and enforce the ABX2-1 re-supply inventory rule and begin the minimum inventory rule-making. In addition, we call on you to reject rollbacks to refinery process safety management (PSM) rules which protect refinery workers and communities while preventing sudden outages that trigger price shocks.”

The gross margins are what the refiners keep after the cost of crude oil, environmental fees, and taxes are deducted. The only refiner cost included in the gross margin is the operating costs for the refinery, which are reported by the refiners to the SEC at about 20 cents per gallon.

THE GROUPS INCLUDE: