Press Release
Santa Monica, CA — On a call with investors today, Gregory Goff, the CEO of Tesoro admitted refinery shutdowns and “disruptions” led to big profits on the oil company’s bottom line in the first quarter. Tesoro’s profit per barrel in the first quarter jumped by 20 cents, amounting to California profits of $119 million in the first quarter for the company.
Press Release
Santa Monica, CA—California refinery shutdowns and slowdowns are boosting refinery profit margins by as much as 72 percent, according to a key indicator called “crack spreads,” Consumer Watchdog said today.
Press Release
Santa Monica, CA – Consumer Watchdog said today that the retail price per gallon of gas in California has soared 53 cents between February 2, when Tesoro began shutting down its refinery in Martinez, through today. A regular gallon of California gasoline now costs an average of $2.96 a gallon.
Press Release
Santa Monica, CA – Consumer Watchdog announced today that spot gas prices in Los Angeles have risen 25 cents since Tuesday when an explosion rocked Exxon’s Torrance refinery, according to the Energy Information Administration. Paired with Tesoro’s Martinez facility that is also shut down, 16.5% of California’s refinery capacity is affected.
Press Release
Santa Monica, CA — Consumer Watchdog said today that the spot price of gas leapt a dime overnight, as the group had predicted in the wake of two refinery shutdowns affecting 16 percent of the state’s refining capacity.
Smoking Gun
Today’s explosion at the Torrance refinery couldn’t come at a better time—for refiners interested in driving up the price of gas.
That’s why we are calling for the California Attorney General, Governor, and lawmakers to step in. We want the Attorney General to send in some boots on the ground to rule out any price manipulation by Tesoro when it shut down its Martinez refinery. We also want to know what first caused Exxon to tell one observer that its Torrance refinery would be offline for two weeks due to a mechanical problem, and then what caused an explosion at the refinery today.
Press Release
Santa Monica, CA—Responding to a shutdown of two refineries that produce 16 percent of the state’s gasoline, Consumer Watchdog called on state officials to send independent inspectors to verify refinery claims that the shutdowns were really necessary.
Press Release
Santa Monica, CA—Consumer Watchdog today sent a letter to California Attorney General Kamala Harris and Robert Weisenmiller, Chair of the California Energy Commission, asking that they investigate Tesoro’s decision to shut down its Martinez refinery indefinitely as steelworkers mount a national strike.
Blog Post
California gasoline prices are still soaring, even as the rest of the nation sees falling pump prices. The reason is simple: Refiners control the supply.
Blog Post
Oil companies are making a fortune off of drivers with oil at $109 a barrel (which comes to $2.60 a gallon at 42 gallons per barrel). But they’re getting rich a second time refining the oil into gasoline.
Press Release
Consumer Group Calls On Pension Funds to Divest From Prop 23 Backers Tesoro, Valero
Santa Monica, CA – Consumer advocates revealed an investor slide presentation by Texas-based oil company Tesoro explaining that oil refiners keep gasoline supplies especially tight on the West Coast to keep profits high through higher pump prices. The slides were included in a letter from Consumer Watchdog to California’s large public pension funds, known as CalPERS and CalSTRS, calling on the funds to divest from Tesoro and another refiner, Valero, which are the chief sponsors of Proposition 23 on the November ballot. The Investment Committee of CalPERS is meeting in Long Beach today.
Press Release
Top Prop 23 Funder Doesn’t Want Greentech Competition To Get in Way of Profiteering
Santa Monica, CA – A new report by Consumer Watchdog’s OilWatchdog.org project finds that Valero Energy reaped over $4.5 billion in refining profit while gouging California motorists since it bought its second California refinery in 2002. The oil refining giant, which is also the largest funder of Proposition 23, averaged 37% higher margins on each barrel of oil it refined in California than at refineries it owns elsewhere in the country, according to data published in company financial reports.
Right: Valero’s Amarillo refinery blast in February The chief funders of California’s anti-regulation Proposition 23 on the November ballot are a pair of Texas-based refiners, Valero and Tesoro. Each of them has two refineries in…
