California Proposes Law Forcing Refiners to Stockpile Fuels

California Governor Gavin Newsom plans to propose legislation forcing oil companies in the Golden State to build stockpiles of gasoline and other fuels, Bloomberg said.

• This is to prevent supply shortages and price spikes during refinery maintenance and outages, Bloomberg added.
• Reserves would shield Californians who already pay some of the highest gasoline prices in the US.
• “Refineries along the West Coast already accumulate stockpiles of fuel during the winter, meaning they don’t need to build further storage tanks to comply with the new proposal,” said Tai Milder, a Newsom appointee leading California’s Division of Petroleum Market Oversight.
• The California Energy Commission said it found data showing surging refinery margins during periods of scheduled maintenance in summer and early Autumn, coinciding with seasonal maintenance.
• Margins can jump as much as 200% above normal, Milder said.