by Katy Grimes, E&E Legal Senior Media Fellow and California Globe Editor
As Appearing in the California Globe

Supply shortages are an outcome of California’s regulatory policy and fail to reflect the energy industry’s cyclical nature’

Chevron President Andy Walz sent a letter Tuesday condemning Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposal to decrease the state’s gas supply, which will clearly result in even higher gas prices at the pump, saying he seeks to address “some of the inaccurate and flawed arguments made by its proponents.”

California’s own Chevron Oil Company announced in August their corporate relocation to Houston Texas from the Bay Area, where it has been based since 1879, the latest big business to flee the Golden State. And Walz said of the 36 states in which they work, only California has the highest gas prices.

That is the argument the Globe has made for some time now: “If the ‘Big Oil’ companies are so greedy, why are they only greedy in California and not greedy in every state?”

In the Chevron letter (below), Walz said:

Chevron is concerned by the recent Committee and Assembly passages of ABX2-1 and seek to address some of the inaccurate and flawed arguments made by its proponents. As the Senate prepares to vote, it is crucial that it makes a fact-based decision. The political posturing that has characterized these proceedings must stop, including baseless and frankly ridiculous claims that the industry is engaging in price gouging. Let us have a balanced, fact-grounded conversation about the state of California’s fuels marketplace, a marketplace weakened by misguided policy decisions, driven by
misleading rhetoric.

Across the three dozen states in which we work, the California government remains unique in its focus on marketplace interference with negative effects on consumers resulting in the highest U.S. gasoline prices. California has investigated the industry numerous times for price gouging and come up with no evidence or charges. Chevron has been a trusted partner to California consumers for 140 years. We value that trust as we strive to reliably provide ever-cleaner fuel to Californians and our neighbors.

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