WASHINGTON, D.C. — Chet Thompson, President and CEO of the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM), issued the following statement on California Senate Bill 950, legislation which authorizes the California Energy Commission (CEC) to impose a new mandate on state fuel refiners:
“Governor Newsom is gaslighting Californians. Sacramento taxes and regulations—which have increased 75% since 2015—are the reason why Californians pay some of the highest gasoline prices in the nation. It’s illogical to think more Sacramento intervention and market meddling from people who do not understand the gasoline supply chain is going to unlock savings for consumers. It won’t. This legislation to establish minimum inventory requirements for refiners would make matters worse. It’s another incredibly bad and potentially illegal idea from the Governor that represents nothing but higher costs.
“Compulsory stocks do not prevent price spikes. They increase prices for everyone, all the time, and stand to make the market less responsive and efficient, potentially disrupting supplies of gasoline into California, Arizona and Nevada. The Governor certainly knows this, so it leaves you to wonder what his true intentions are.” – Chet Thompson, AFPM President and CEO
Read more about the problem of minimum inventory mandates here and here.
The American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) is the leading trade association representing the makers of the fuels that keep us moving, the petrochemicals that are the essential building blocks for modern life, and the midstream companies that get our feedstocks and products where they need to go. We make the products that make life better, safer and more sustainable — we make progress.
