By Jim Shields, THE UKIAH DAILY JOURNAL

Legislators told that minimum Inventories are necessary to combat gas gouging 

On Thursday, Sept. 19, my main man at Consumer Watchdog, President Jamie Court, tore the oil companies a new one when he testified in the state Legislature’s special session that California needs to establish a minimum inventory requirement of 15 to 18 days if it wants to avoid gas price spikes that led to billions in excessive profits for oil refiners during the last two years. 

“When refineries go down and refiners don’t have adequate inventories that’s when gasoline prices go up like a rocket,” said Court. “Establishing a 15 to 20 day floor on gas inventories is the easiest way to protect California consumers at the pump from the grip of the 4 oil refiners that make 90% of the gasoline in the state. I have been watching this industry for 25 years, since serving on Attorney General Bill Lockyer’s Gas Pricing Taskforce, and it’s been the same story for two and a half decades. Low inventories combined with refinery maintenance lead to big price and profit spikes. It’s time to end this cycle that we call the Golden State Gouge. Governor Newsom deserves congratulations for being the first Governor to take on this well documented problem and call out the refining industry for keeping the state running on empty in order to pump up its profits.” 

Drawing on data from the California Energy Commission, Court testified before the California Assembly Petroleum and Gasoline Supply Committee that the two California price spikes that occurred during the last year and a half were precipitated by refiners having less than 15 days of inventories. 

His data-laden comments showed that the drop in inventories corresponded to gasoline prices spiking at over $5 per gallon in September 2023 and April 2024 and oil refiners reporting to the state record profits per gallon of more than $1.20 per gallon through their gross refining margins reporting now required under the law (SB 1322). 

Jim Shields is the Mendocino County Observer’s editor and publisher, [email protected] , the long-time district manager of the Laytonville County Water District, and is also chairman of the Laytonville Area Municipal Advisory Council. Listen to his radio program “This and That” every Saturday at 12 noon on KPFN 105.1 FM, also streamed live: http://www.kpfn.org