Governor Newsom Calls Out Oil Industry at UN. (Photo: gov.ca.gov)
While Newsom Fiddles, California’s Gas & Oil Crisis Ramps Up with Tensions Between the US and Iran
Gov. Newsom is presiding over perhaps the largest energy policy collapse of the oil industry, refinery operations and gasoline production in U.S. history
By Katy Grimes, February 22, 2026 9:51 am
While California Governor Gavin Newsom gallivants around the world pretending he’s an international political figure, and has now just embarked on a book tour rather than playing at being Governor, California suffers under some very serious government-created crises, starting with California’s oil refineries closing, leaving the state gas-starved.
Petroleum expert Michael Ariza, told the Globe last week that the Valero refinery closure will have more of an effect on our region. “In the Bay Area we only have two out of five refineries producing gasoline, jet fuel, and propane. Valero is down, Conoco Phillips in Rodeo and Marathon in Martinez are only producing bio diesel!”
Refineries shutting down is a real world problem for many industries, businesses and families in California which rely on fuel: the state’s farmers and ranchers, truckers, manufacturers, and many more industries are suffering under the climbing gas and diesel prices, and shortages.
Gov. Newsom is presiding over perhaps the largest energy policy collapse of the oil industry, refinery operations and gasoline production in U.S. history.
Most California residents know that California’s self-inflected gasoline crisis is not only increasing prices at the pump, but increasing dependency on foreign oil suppliers and shippers to supply fuels to the Golden State. And, California’s self-inflicted gas crisis is also a direct threat to U.S. military force readiness on the West Coast, the Globe reported in October.
California produces less than 23% of its own in-state petroleum needs and already imports over 70% of its crude oil from foreign sources, and that’s before the refinery closures. The oil and gas industry in California account for nearly 8% of the state’s GDP. Without oil and gas, the other 92% of the state’s GDP would be impossible to attain, Ariza, Professor Michael Mische and Assemblyman Stan Ellis have been warning.
Arizona gets nearly half of its gas from California. The vast majority of Nevada’s gas – 88% – comes from California.
California, Nevada and Arizona have 40 military bases and installations – California is home to 32 of those 40 military bases.
Now, the price of crude oil super tankers is going through the roof, Ariza says. And because California is gas-starved, already this year, two tankers carrying gasoline have arrived in California from the Bahamas.
“Gas prices in Northern California are continuing to climb. Up $.40 a gallon in a few weeks and yesterday I just went by two gas stations that moved up another $0.30 a gallon each,” Ariza said. “We anticipate the prices to keep climbing unfortunately.”
Last week the average price for a gallon of regular gas in California on Feb. 13, 2026, was $4.56. Ten days before that it was $4.37.
Today, February 22, 2026, according to AAA, gas in California is $4.62 per gallon of regular. A gallon of diesel is over $5.00 per gallon.
Assemblyman Ellis told the Globe that California military bases could end up running out of jet and aviation fuels should a military conflict unfold.
Why? Because of Governor Newsom’s political policies resulting in shockingly detrimental and lethal regulations of the oil and gas industry.
“California has no inbound pipelines supplying crude oil, gasoline, or aviation fuels, which amplifies U.S. national security vulnerabilities. Astonishingly, over 95% of California’s inbound crude and gasoline supplies are delivered by maritime tankers, the majority of which are not U.S.-flagged vessels, including tanker ships owned by Russia’s SCF Group and China’s Cosco Shipping Energy Transportation,” Assemblyman Ellis told the Globe.
India is providing crude oil and gas supplies to California, and Russia and China are delivering it.
How is that for U.S. Security?
At OilPrice.com, Charles Kennedy warns about the increasing cost of supertankers because of the current U.S. and Iran tensions:
The ratcheting up of tensions between the United States and Iran could push an already red-hot supertanker market even higher with rates soaring to the highest level since 2019, analysts say.
The daily rate for hiring a supertanker on the key Middle East-to-China route has surged threefold since the beginning of the year, to over $150,000.
That’s the highest since 2020, per data from the Baltic Exchange cited by Bloomberg.
The rally in freight rates for the very large crude carriers (VLCC) capable of carrying around 2 million barrels of crude began at the end of 2025 on the back of growing oil supply, longer voyages, and disruptions due to sanctions and altered shipping lanes.
Michael Ariza has warned of many different disruptions including weather, which can halt the voyages of very large crude carriers.
California imported more gasoline in November than ever before, with more than 40% coming from the Bahamas, Fortune reports. The lengthy distance supertankers must travel increases the cost of California’s gas. And because of California’s oil refineries shutting down and lack of interstate pipelines, it’s only going to get worse.
While Gavin Newsom has been playing International Man of Mystery in Germany and Davos, taking glamour shots and trash talking President Trump, California farmers and ranchers, truckers, manufacturers, and many more industries are suffering. Many say they will not be able to sustain if gas and diesel prices keep rising.
California today produces less than 23% of its own in-state petroleum needs and imports over 65% of its crude oil from foreign sources, yet the oil and gas industry in California account for nearly 8% of the state’s GDP, even in its diminished capacity.
In 1988, the state of California only imported about 4.5% of all the oil that we consumed in our state. By 2020 we were importing over 70%.
Notably, China is bringing in a lot of our jet fuel and gasoline in their Chinese Costco tankers, Ariza said, and that is a threat to national security.
We asked in December, “Has California’s Oil and Gas Industry Hit the Point of No Return?”
A California native and Navy mom, Katy lives in Sacramento, CA.
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Gov. Dumbdumb has completely disassociated himself with any California issue, and is playing Pretend President. Gov. Dumbdumb has never had one solution for California problems. Not one. He certainly does not have any solution for U.S. challenges either. He’s too stupid. He sounds like a robot that just keeps spewing global warming propaganda AI slop.
I believe the Chinese owned Shipping
Company you intended to call out is Cosco.
THIS is what happens when we (s)elect “community organizers” (even wealthy ones with Getty-family connectoons) to run THE BUSINESS of State.
Good news : Elaine Culotti just announced for California Governor and we need BUSINESS acumen with PROVEN management experience!!!
http://www.culottiforcalifornia.com
Elaine Culotti was a guest on the “California Insider” YouTube channel about four months ago. She said that she supports Newsom’s train to nowhere and she thinks that the cap and trade program is cool. She came off as a liberal SoCal bleach blond airhead. Viewer comments were brutally critical of her.
Nope.
Watch: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuMzHnfpQ3s&t=751s)
Well, there ya go…
Agree that’s a NOPE.
I’ve never heard of her and know nothing about her. She could be great, but a winning candidate needs name recognition. Not likely to happen this late.
Newsom is following the European energy model. Curtail cheaper internal production, rely on expensive out of country energy. In order to get out from under this rock we need a clean election and a commonsense plan to implement.
While California implodes with a gas and oil crisis, Newsom was in Georgia promoting his autobiography and his likely 2028 presidential campaign in front of a Black audience. He started out pandering to them like Democrats always do and then he devolved into a weird racist condescension with him saying in a slow southern like drawl:
“I’m not trying to impress you. I’m just trying to impress upon you I’m like you. I’m no better than you. I’m a 960 SAT guy. And I’m not trying to offend anyone; trying to act all there if you got 940. But literally a 960 SAT guy. You’ve never seen me read a speech because I cannot read a speech. Maybe I’m in the wrong business to be in.”
(https://x.com/EndWokeness/status/2025749760443908555)
What a tool Newsom is?
YES, Gruesome is a tool for sure.
He is also a super-arrogant horse’s ass in a Bozo costume, who has inexplicably convinced himself that he is the best and brightest and most charming politician ever. Californians know he is the exact opposite, and that he is the Worst Governor Ever. Unfortunately for him Gavin Gruesome is right on the precipice of having his horse’s ass handed to him on a platter as he goes deeper into the Dante’s Inferno national exposure fires he thinks he can handle. He can’t.
You, sir, win the prize for comment of the day!
🙂 Jay
How embarrassing is it to have him as the governor of our state? Friends who live elsewhere think we’re stupid for staying. Maybe we are. I just don’t see myself as a quitter.
I know some people simply cannot afford to stay here and they MUST leave. but thanks for not being a quitter.
Really? Aye yi yi, he went to Georgia too? How does this man get around with all his NET ZERO and Carbon Neutrality? What a HYPOCRITE this evil man is.
I don’t understand why Gavin is NOT in JAIL yet! Hey REPUBLICANS, where are YOU? again, He’s a TRAITOR and works for the GLOBALISTS like China, the UN and was a former YOUNG GLOBAL LEADER for the WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM whose former leader, KALUS SCHWAB wrote a book called. COVID-19, the GREAT RESET. look at his Covid-19 LOCKDOWN TYRANNY! He also, yes he did, have Malibu-Palisades DELIBERATELY Burnt down for a UN SMART CITY called SMART LA2028. And look at the GAS-OIL REFINERIES! This Is a matter of NATIONAL SECURITY as well. These are definitely DELIBERATE acts of SABOTAGE and Destruction and outright MALICE of our citizens and economy. And he ONLY cares about ILLEGAL ALIENS, Criminals and HIMSELF! This EVIL Man should be in Prison! Instead, he also FLIES to Belem Brazil for a UN COP 30 meeting, he FLIES to a WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM Meeting and also Germany! Well Republicans? YOU claim YOU’RE the OPPOSITION? so, where exactly is that actual OPPOSITION? All Talk and NO Action doesn’t cut it! What does it take to get something-anything to get done? So far to me anyway, whatever GAVIN Wants to do, Gavin GETS to do!
And no, I don’t think NEWSCUM is Stupid, I think GAVIN knows exactly what he’s doing. He’s a very EVIL man and a complete TRAITOR to the USA. He works for the GLOBALISTS who want to see the USA DESTROYED, so NOTHING STOPS their upcoming EVIL 1-World-Order GLOBAL GOVERNMENT. Which by the way wants to KILL Off at least 95 PERCENT of Humanity. As YUVAL NOAH HARARI who is first advisor to the WEF, he says, WE DON’T NEED YOU ANYMORE. After all, they do now have their AI and ROBOTICS. And WHAT are they going to do with all those UNEMPLOYED People? We’re in HUGE TROUBLE and that’s probably why they’re doing their darkest to Start WW3. Oh and the WEF with their fellow evil GLOBALIST pals like to say to us plebes, WE will OWN NOTHING, have NO Privacy and we’ve never been happier. Does anyone really think all these GLOBALIST HYPOCRITES will even remotely live like they want us to live? As we can see when they flew in PRIVATE JETS to the Super Bowl, Belem Brazil and the WEF MEETINGS, they have absolutely NO Intention of living like what they DEMAND of us! Anyway, I was just hoping the Republicans Would just do something, ANYTHING to stop this other than lip service.
Feb 23, 2026
Gas can be found for $3.99 a gallon here in SoCal. Not sure when the big increase is going to hit, but I am sure the Asian countries that can supply us gasoline are loading up tankers as we speak.
You may be able to find gas for $3.99 but the averages in Los Angeles are $4.665 for regular, $4.883 for medium, $5.057 for premium and $5.088 for diesel. So there are some very high priced areas as well.
I remember the gas rationing, even and odd license plates. Will we even have enough fuel available to do that again?
What is not being discussed is the Fact that Phillips 66 shut down their LA Refinery only to relocate to WA state @ their Ferndale Refinery to produce 105,000 barrels a day of CA’s CARB gas only for export by barge to the Valero Refinery in Benica, CA that will convert to a holding facility. What could possibility go wrong with shipping hundreds of miles of extremely dangerous fuel by sea during the Winter and our many storms. Does the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska bring back any memories. I bet that Gov. Newsom paid a fortune to Phillips 66 for their betrayal of CA.