Archive | Tag: Price Manipulation

Press Release

Santa Monica, CA — Analysis of Tesoro’s earnings released today showed that the company made more California refining profit in the second quarter than ever in the company’s history. Based on the number of barrels the company refined in California, and the profits they made from each barrel, Consumer Watchdog calculates that the company’s second quarter California refiner profits were a record high of $668 million, crushing their prior record of $415 million in the second quarter of 2007. This number is four times higher than their average California profit since 2005 of $138 million.

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Press Release

Santa Monica, CA — California has broken all records for the biggest gap between what consumers here have paid so far versus the rest of the nation for gas at the pump, Consumer Watchdog said today. Californians paid $1.2 billion more, after tax differentials, than the rest of the nation in the month of July, a record, and $4.8 billion more for their gasoline over the last six months ending July 31st, since gas price spikes started. That amounts to $201 extra dollars paid by each California driver.

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Press Release

Santa Monica, CA – Valero reported $294 million in second quarter California profits, more than ten times higher than the same quarter last year when the Texas refiner made $24 million. The most staggering increase came in per barrel profits. Last year the company made just 99 cents per barrel in California. This year that number reached $11.23 per barrel.

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Press Release

Santa Monica, CA — Newly posted data from California oil refiners shows that record price spikes at the pump have translated to a record high return to the oil companies of $1.17 per gallon in May of 2015. The average amount that a refiner receives for a gallon of gasoline has been just 46 cents since 1999, according to the California Energy Commission (CEC), but recently updated data on the CEC website shows that in May refiners took home more per gallon than ever before. Consumer Watchdog had urged the CEC to update the data, which had not been posted since August.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Press Release

Consumer Watchdog Calls For Increased Oil Reserves

Santa Monica, CA – Consumer Watchdog today reiterated calls for an increase in the state’s oil reserves as Los Angeles gas prices jumped $1.03 cents in the last month, the highest in the state, according to AAA’s Fuel Gauge Report website. Los Angeles prices at the pump for regular gas have reached $3.53 per gallon, a dollar and nine cents, or 45% higher than the national average of $2.44 per gallon.

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