California Scrambles to Keep Oil Companies After Driving Them Out

After decades of waging war against the oil and gas industry, California’s Democratic leadership is suddenly backpedaling. With gas prices surging, refineries closing, and energy dependence reaching critical levels, Governor Gavin Newsom is now fast-tracking oil well permits in a desperate attempt to keep fossil fuel companies from fleeing the state for good.

It’s a staggering reversal from a state that spent the last 25 years demonizing the very industry it now hopes to cling to.

Chevron executive Andy Walz didn’t mince words. Speaking to FOX Business, he said, “It’s been a tyranny of about 25 years to get the refining business to leave California.”

Chevron, like many others, has already started moving operations to states like Texas, where common-sense business policies still exist. The reasons are no mystery:

• Crippling regulations have made it nearly impossible to operate efficiently in California.

• Employee relocation issues plague the industry due to high taxes, housing costs, and burdensome policies.

• Sky-high energy prices punish consumers and companies alike Californians are paying $4.65 per gallon for regular gas, compared to the national average of $3.17, according to AAA.

And yet, the same politicians responsible for this mess are now pretending to offer solutions.

Last week, Newsom signed legislation that accelerates the approval of 2,000 new oil wells per year over the next decade in Kern County, a major oil-producing region. The move is designed to “stabilize the state’s gasoline supply” and supposedly help Californians save “billions on their energy costs.”

But for Chevron and others, it’s too little, too late.

“It’s a tough place to do business,” Walz explained. “It’s a tough place to recruit people... a lot of our employees will not move to California.”

This sudden “charm offensive,” as FOX Business reporter Lauren Simonetti put it, isn’t fooling anyone. California has already gutted its refinery capacity from 40 in 1983 down to just 13 today, with two more closures on the horizon. When Valero and Phillips 66 shut down their facilities, that number will fall to 11.

Worse still, the consequences of California’s policies are already playing out in real time:

• The state now imports 75% of its oil from foreign sources, making it far more vulnerable to global market shocks.

• The loss of refining capacity has led directly to more frequent price spikes at the pump.

• Green energy mandates have done nothing to bring down costs, while making the state more energy insecure.

Newsom’s press release brags about “mitigating against future gasoline spikes,” but Californians are already suffering from the short-sighted decisions of Democrat lawmakers who prioritized ideology over economic reality.

This isn't leadership it's damage control.

California’s radical climate agenda, pushed by Gavin Newsom and his allies, drove out one of the nation’s most critical industries. Now, with the exodus nearly complete, they're realizing the cold truth: you can’t power a state on virtue signaling and wind turbines alone.

If California wants to stop hemorrhaging businesses and pushing families to the brink, it needs more than a public relations campaign. It needs to reverse course, embrace domestic energy, and stop punishing the very people who keep the lights on.

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