Study: California refineries operated during periods blamed for gas price spikes

[unhappycamper]

Last edited Thu Nov 15, 2012, 08:41 AM - Edit history (1)

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/11/14/174662/california-refineries-operated.html



The cost of gas in Santa Cruz, California, in late April 2012.


Study: California refineries operated during periods blamed for gas price spikes
By Kevin G. Hall | McClatchy Newspapers
Posted on Wednesday, November 14, 2012

WASHINGTON — West Coast gasoline price spikes in May and October were widely blamed on refinery outages, but new research to be released at a California hearing Thursday shows that refiners continued to produce gasoline in periods when the public was told the contrary.

The information, shared exclusively with McClatchy, comes from Oregon-based McCullough Research, which combed through thousands of pages of environmental documents to conclude that refineries were in fact operating during supposed outages and maintenance shutdowns.

Specifically, the report alleges that in May, at a time when Royal Dutch Shell’s Martinez, Calif., plant was reported to be down for maintenance for two weeks, it appears to have been making gasoline for at least half that time. That conclusion is reached from state environmental documents showing nitrogen oxide emissions had returned to normal at the refinery a full week before it was reported to have come back on line.

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This means that in California, the nation’s most populous state, seven major players control most of the supply. They are vertically integrated, refining oil into gasoline and getting involved in the retailing of gasoline in the wholesale market. That system, McCullough said in an interview, lends itself to a market concentration that allows producers to subtly coordinate their prices.


on edit: to correct header

[hedda_foil]

1. The term "cartel" comes to mind.

As does criminal conspiracy and RICO charges.