Energy Outlook Advisors' Newsletter

Energy Outlook Advisors' Newsletter

Days after Newsom signs bill aimed at 'big oil,' Phillips 66 says it plans to stop operating refinery

Soon California will import petroleum products made form Russian crude! (with 3 charts)

Anas Alhajji's avatar
Anas Alhajji
Oct 17, 2024
∙ Paid

The News:

Phillips 66 provides notice of its plan to cease operations at Los Angeles-area refinery

Days after Newsom signs bill aimed at 'big oil,' Phillips 66 says it plans to stop operating refinery

Oil company Phillips 66 says it will shut down Los Angeles-area refinery

The Law of Unintended Consequences

Most politicians are shortsighted!  Their interest in the short run and election cycles are higher than the long run and the future of the country or the state.  Very few can even think about the unintended consequences of laws and regulations.  California war against the oil and gas industry has led to higher energy prices, despite all efforts to prevent such increases. 

Figure (1) below shows trends in US and California gasoline prices since the beginning of 2001.   Sinc California started adopting green policies and set energy transition goals, gasoline prices started increasing above the US national average prices.  The gray line shows the difference between US average gasoline prices and California prices or what we are calling the “California Premium.”  This difference is actually higher because California prices are included in the US average. 

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