California governor Gavin Newsom, who spent years advancing aggressive climate policies that one oil executive said made California “uninvestable,” is now pushing to expand oil drilling as the state faces a looming fuel shortage. With Phillips 66 and Valero set to shut down refineries that account for 20 percent of California’s gasoline production, Newsom’s administration is exploring incentives to boost in-state oil output, including a draft bill to allow more drilling in oil-rich Kern County.
The move marks a stark reversal for a governor who has banned fracking, sued oil companies over climate change, and championed laws to cap industry profits. In October, Newsom accused oil companies of “screwing” Californians, yet his latest actions signal a scramble to prevent skyrocketing gas prices as refining capacity drops.
Chevron executive Andy Walz said the shift is “a recognition that there’s a problem” after years of policies hostile to oil production. “I don’t think [California officials] believed the industry was in trouble,” Walz said. “I think they misread what was really going on, and it took some real action by some competitors to get them woken up.”
At the same time, the Trump administration is moving in the opposite direction of Biden-era restrictions—revoking the electric vehicle mandate, halting offshore wind leases, and opening an 80-million-acre Gulf of America oil and gas lease sale. Even Democrat state senator Henry Stern, a longtime drilling opponent, has flipped, saying, “Kern County should be unleashed, and I’m there.”
