Tesoro Reports Record California Profits After California Price Spike, Says Consumer Watchdog

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Aug. 5, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Analysis of Tesoro’s earnings released today showed that the company made more California refining profit in the second quarter than ever in the company’s history. Based on the number of barrels the company refined in California, and the profits they made from each barrel, Consumer Watchdog calculates that the company’s second quarter California refiner profits were a record high of $668 million, crushing their prior record of $415 million in the second quarter of 2007. This number is four times higher than their average California profit since 2005 of $138 million.

The company’s per barrel California profits (found by subtracting their per barrel margin from their per barrel costs), leapt to $14. In the second quarter of 2014 the company made just $5.50 per barrel. Since 2005 the company averages $6.80 per barrel California profits.

Today, Consumer Watchdog released a report on the rest of the industry’s California refining margins, which can be read here. The report anticipated that Tesoro’s earnings would reach record highs: www.consumerwatchdog.org/resources/thegoldenstategouge.pdf.

Valero’s profit release can be read here http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=79122&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=2076298

Businessman and philanthropist Tom Steyer joined Consumer Watchdog at a press conference today to call for reform of the California refining industry.     

At the press conference, Steyer stated, “I am calling on the Legislature to address this problem, he continued, “We have to protect Californians from these gigantic and unprecedented gas hikes.” He called for legislation or a ballot initiative that would:  

• Require oil companies to fully disclose the profits they make from refining gasoline in California, and the amount of taxes they pay to the state of California;
• Require oil refiners in California to give the public advance notice of planned maintenance and outages at their oil refineries;
• Require oil companies to have a plan to maintain a minimum level of gasoline reserves in order to prevent price spikes; and
• Increase the legal and financial penalties for oil companies if they illegally conspire to increase gas prices.   

Consumer Watchdog’s Cody Rosenfield said, “Tesoro’s record profits shows the pattern of gouging that Chevron and Valero demonstrated in their profit reports. This is just more impetus for the legislature to act or for citizens to take matters into their own hands.”

SOURCE Consumer Watchdog