Press Release
Santa Monica, CA – Oil companies exported more gasoline from the West Coast to foreign nations in the month of December 2014 than ever in the nation’s history, according to Energy Information Administration data analyzed by Consumer Watchdog.
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
San Francisco, CA — Consumer Watchdog published a new report today, “Refining Profits: How Californians Get Fleeced At The Pump,” showing that oil refiners have made large profits from gasoline price spikes recently and over the last decade. The report reviewed ten years of publicly available profit data.
Press Release
Refiners Remain Silent Because Law Does Not Require them to Disclose Information
Santa Monica, CA—The price of a gallon of regular gas in California spiked up another 40 cents this week and now stands at $3.59 a gallon at the pump due to fresh problems refineries have tried to conceal, Consumer Watchdog said today. Californians are now paying exactly a dollar more than the US average.
Press Release
Santa Monica, CA – Consumer Watchdog today said that a price spike of 28 cents per gallon at the pump over the last week was likely caused by a refinery outage or other refinery problems that the public is not privy to, and called on the California Senate to act.
Press Release
Santa Monica, CA — California drivers paid $1 billion extra at the pump in March, when compared to the national average gas price charged to U.S. drivers, according to an analysis of the latest government…
Press Release
Santa Monica, CA — Business leader, philanthropist and climate activist Tom Steyer and Consumer Watchdog President Jamie Court asked California lawmakers to subpoena oil industry executives to explain why California’s gasoline market is structured for shortages and volatility. The executives declined to testify at a March 24 hearing before a joint Senate Committee hearing into February’s dollar-a-gallon price spike at the pump.
Press Release
Santa Monica, CA — At a California State Senate hearing on February gasoline price spikes, Consumer Watchdog issued a report finding that California oil refiners have about half as much gasoline on hand than the rest of America, creating a volatile market that leads to gasoline price spikes. The report, “Price Spiked: How Oil Refiners Gouge Californians On Their Gasoline and What It Costs,” showed that Californians paid $550 million extra for their gasoline in February compared to drivers nationwide by calculating the difference between US and state prices and allotting for consumption.
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.
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 — Following a Nebraska court’s ruling that the Keystone XL pipeline can be built, the nonprofit Consumer Watchdog said the issue should be moot for the Obama administration, the decision-maker, because the building of the pipeline will raise American gasoline prices – which are at historic lows.
Smoking Gun
A report released by Consumer Watchdog at the summit showed that the companies had spent more than $100 million on lobbying and campaign contributions during the last five years in California to combat environmental protections.
Press Release
Oakland, CA – The nonprofit Consumer Watchdog released a report chronicling the tactics California oil companies are likely to use to undermine implementation of climate protection laws and warned state officials they include artificially hiking the price of gasoline.
