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To: skinowski who wrote (7550)1/4/2024 7:35:29 PM
From: Sdgla2 Recommendations

Recommended By
alanrs
skinowski

  Respond to of 17356
 
Our system might be FUBAR. We will have a front row this year to watch if it can be repaired.



To: skinowski who wrote (7550)1/4/2024 8:19:43 PM
From: Alan Smithee  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 17356
 
Could a time come when Chevron and others in the industry decline to do business in California? At some point, investors may become unhappy that the companies are experiencing increased losses due to state regulation.

Gavin Newsom's Problems May Be About To Get Worse
By Omar Mohammed On 1/4/24 at 12:45 PM EST

Chevron, one of the world's largest oil companies, has said in a securities filing that regulations in the state of California may hurt its business in the fourth quarter of 2023.

In a January 2 notice to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said that it "will be impairing a portion of its U.S. upstream assets, primarily in California, due to continuing regulatory challenges in the state that have resulted in lower anticipated future investment levels in its business plans."

The announcement follows Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom approving legislation in March 2023 that he said would improve oversight of "Big Oil" in the state.

The move will have a financial impact on Chevron's business, the company said, and will contribute to "non-cash, after-tax charges of $3.5 billion to $4 billion in the company's fourth quarter 2023 results."

Newsweek contacted Chevron for comment via email on Thursday morning.


California Gov. Gavin Newsom in Beverly Hills, California, on May 2, 2023. Chevron said that new regulations are discouraging investment in the state. PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

The law had planned to establish an independent entity that aims to "root out price gouging by oil companies and authorizes the California Energy Commission (CEC) to create a penalty to hold the industry accountable," according to Newsom's office.

"With this legislation, we're ending the oil industry's days of operating in the shadows. California took on Big Oil and won. We're not only protecting families, we're also loosening the vice grip Big Oil has had on our politics for the last 100 years," Newsom said in a statement after he signed the legislation into law last year.

In a letter to the CEC commenting on the legislation and its impact, Andy Walz, Chevron's Americas products president, suggested that penalties that may be introduced as a result of the legislation may make gas prices more expensive.

"A margin penalty can only serve to further deter investment in the state's energy market," Walz wrote. "This is not hyperbole, nor is it merely hypothetical. California's policies have made Chevron's investments in its home state riskier than investing in other states, with projects being lower in quality and higher in cost."

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Walz went on to say that Chevron, whose global headquarters are in California, alone has cut back "hundreds of millions of dollars" on its spending in the state since 2022.

"California's policies have made it a difficult place to invest so we have rejected capital projects in the state," Walz said.

"Setting a margin penalty would absolutely discourage investments here. Further, these arbitrary attacks on a disfavored industry do more than this—they signal to every industry, entrepreneur, manufacturer, and employer that California is closed for business."

A spokesperson from Newsom's office told Newsweek that oil refiners in the state are now required to be transparent about their monthly profits to "combat price gouging at the pump."

They added that Chevron has generated billions of profits recently and engaged in stock buybacks and pointed out that the company had also said that it planned to continue operating oil fields and related assets for years to come in its filings.

"Oil drilling in California has been on a consistent decline since 1985," the spokesperson said. "As of September, over 50% of oil drilling permits that California issued to companies went unused—so they're not even using the permits that they've been issued."

Update 1/4/24, 2:47 p.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from a Newsom spokesperson.