Oil exec warns Gavin Newsom’s red tape could skyrocket California gas prices
An oil CEO warns that Gavin Newsom’s regulatory chokehold could drive California diesel to $10 a gallon while the state imports 30 percent of its crude from a war-torn Persian Gulf.
California’s gas prices are already $1.66 above the national average at $6.16 per gallon, yet Governor Gavin Newsom continues to layer on regulations that have kept pump prices above $4 for five straight years. Carbon Energy Corporation CEO Pat McDonald delivered a blunt warning: without executive action to loosen the red tape, drivers could soon face $8.50 gasoline and $10 diesel.
McDonald, who operates some of the state’s oldest wells, told The California Post that the clock is ticking. The last tanker carrying Persian Gulf crude, 30 percent of the state’s foreign supply, docked over the weekend. Hundreds more remain stranded after President Trump paused Project Freedom amid efforts to negotiate with Iran. California’s own in-state production has collapsed under layers of tax and regulatory policy, leaving the state dangerously exposed.
Newsom has pointed fingers at Trump and the Iran conflict. The data tell a different story. California hasn’t seen sub-$4 gas since before the current administration’s heaviest environmental rules took hold. McDonald isn’t calling for the repeal of laws like SB 1137, which banned new drilling within 3,200 feet of homes, schools, and hospitals. He simply wants them made “easier to abide by and not so destructive and restrictive.” Relaxing that single statute, he said, would boost his company’s output by 30 to 40 percent within nine months to a year.
Other producers stand ready to flip the switch the moment regulators step back. “Capital flows toward certainty,” McDonald said, “and that’s how we need to approach this.” Instead, Sacramento has delivered the opposite: unpredictable rules disconnected from the reality of keeping cars on the road and trucks delivering goods.
McDonald urged Newsom to issue an immediate executive order for crisis management, then for the legislature to confront the damage its policies are inflicting on California families. The alternative is clear: deeper reliance on unstable foreign supplies and prices that will make today’s $6.16 seem like a bargain.
The question now is whether Sacramento will ease the restrictions before the next tanker delay turns a painful shortage into an economic emergency.
Original reporting: New York Post.
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