At a California Energy Commission business meeting on Wednesday, consumer and environmental advocates sharply criticized the oil industry’s resistance to market reforms, pointing to new state findings that Californians have paid an estimated $59 billion more for gasoline over the past decade than consumers elsewhere in the country.
The figure, drawn from the commission’s 2024 annual report on gasoline market conditions, renewed calls for the state to adopt a long-discussed minimum inventory rule intended to stabilize supply and blunt price spikes. Advocates also urged Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration and state regulators to revisit their decision to set aside a proposed price-gouging penalty.
“The oil industry is solely motivated by their own profits and therefore do not have the needs of Californians in mind,” said Ilonka Zlatar, an organizer with the Oil & Gas Network. She argued that refiners—operating in what regulators describe as an oligopoly—have little incentive to negotiate in good faith as the state attempts to transition away from fossil fuels. A minimum inventory requirement, she said, along with reconsideration of a price-gouging penalty, is essential.
“An overcharge of $59 billion amounts to almost $1,500 for every man, woman and child in California, and that’s crazy,” she added.
Representatives from several organizations, including the Center for Biological Diversity, The Climate Center, and the Union of Concerned Scientists, echoed the call for stronger oversight and new consumer protections.
Presenting the commission’s findings, Varsha Sarveshwar, deputy director for policy at the Division of Petroleum Market Oversight, underscored the widening gap between gasoline prices in California and the rest of the United States. “Retail prices for branded gasoline are on a significant upswing from the rest of the U.S.,” she said.
Between 2015 and 2025, she noted, the average price difference between branded and unbranded gasoline in California rose from roughly 20 cents per gallon to 31 cents, often higher at the pump. Elsewhere in the country, that spread has remained largely unchanged, hovering between 7 and 8 cents per gallon over the same period.
The report also concluded that refining margins at branded gasoline stations over the last decade averaged 75 cents per gallon—far higher than the 41-cent average at unbranded stations. Regulators say the disparity reflects the market power of vertically integrated refiners, including Chevron and Marathon, which control both refining and retail operations. Four refiners are on track to command 98 percent of the state’s refining market, making it the most consolidated in the nation.
More information is available from Consumer Watchdog.