Experts stress energy independence as gas prices rise

“…With so much of the state’s crude oil supply coming from other parts of the world, energy industry experts told lawmakers that regulations are to blame for rising energy prices and volatility.

“California’s petroleum system has been weakened by design,” Jodie Muller, the president and CEO of the Western States Petroleum Association, testified on Tuesday afternoon. “For years, state policies have pushed the refining sector to contraction, with predictable consequences – less in-state production, reduced resilience and higher costs for Californians.”

The current system has very little margin for error because of the declining number of oil refineries in the state, Muller told lawmakers.

“We are now at an inflection point,” Muller said. “Additional policy pressures risk pushing the remaining refineries past the breaking point. We are still seeing hostile legislation by your colleagues.”…”