California's new law takes effect to crack down on gas price manipulation

SACRAMENTO, the United States, June 27 (Xinhua) -- California, with the reputation as one of the most expensive states for gas in the United States, is stepping up efforts to oversee gas prices and hold large oil companies accountable for price manipulation.

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a new law in March to combat price gouging at the pump. The law, which the governor's office said is the first in the nation and a model for the rest of the nation, takes effect on Tuesday.

Under the new state law, a new independent watchdog called the Division of Petroleum Market Oversight will be created within the California Energy Commission.

The new division is aimed at rooting out price gouging by oil companies and authorizes penalties to hold the oil and gas industry accountable for gas gouging, according to the governor's office.

It will monitor the industry on a daily basis to identify unethical or illegal behavior, and will refer market manipulation and other violations of law to the attorney general for prosecution.

"These new transparency laws will help us track refiners' profits and shine a light on price manipulation, so Californians aren't vulnerable to the greedy whims of Big Oil," said Newsom in a press release on Tuesday.

California has often been the state with the highest gas prices, with drivers paying an average of 6.4 U.S. dollars a gallon in July 2022, according to data from the American Automobile Association (AAA).

Washington state overtaken California last week as the state with the highest gas prices. The average price of regular gas was 4.99 dollars a gallon in Washington and 4.84 dollars a gallon in California as of Tuesday, according to AAA. The national average price was 3.56 dollars a gallon on Tuesday.

"California's gas prices have been substantially lower and less volatile. The governor's actions have helped lead to a decrease of 1.50 dollars per gallon, year over year," said the governor's office in the press release.

However, petroleum analysts said the new law doesn't exactly mean lower prices for consumers at the pump, because gas prices are often driven by the market, supply and demand.