PBF Power (NYSE:PBF) rejected a request from the California Power Fee to testify at a listening to subsequent week on gasoline worth spikes, citing Governor Gavin Newsom’s “politicization of this problem” and failure to hearken to warnings concerning the state’s declining gasoline manufacturing, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.
“Refining is an especially capital-intensive enterprise,” and “California’s regulatory atmosphere is placing future funding in refining and gas manufacturing in danger within the state,” PBF (PBF) wrote in its response to the regulator.
Refiners Marathon Petroleum (MPC) and Phillips 66 (PSX) additionally declined to testify, citing issues about having the ability to share data amid federal antitrust legal guidelines.
PBF (PBF) is on monitor to make almost $3B in earnings this 12 months, which it’s utilizing to pay down the “exorbitant debt” it took on to outlive California’s COVID-19 lockdowns, the corporate stated in its letter.
The deliberate listening to comes as gasoline costs in California stay the best within the continental U.S., with a mean of $5.157 per gallon of unleaded gasoline, in keeping with AAA; Newsom has blamed “grasping” oil firms “ripping off” clients on the pump.