the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
April 20, 2026
The Iran war is hitting California drivers harder than any other state, with average gasoline prices currently at least six dollars per gallon. This is two dollars more per gallon than the already outrageously high prices in the rest of the country. So, already cash-strapped families in California are often paying more than 100 dollars to fill up a tank of gas. As for truckers, they are now paying over 1,000 dollars to fill up their tank, as opposed to 600 dollars just a couple of months ago.
As usual, the oil companies and news media blame the supposedly “liberal” state government for environmental regulations and higher taxes for this disaster. But what they don’t bother to mention is that on the very day the war began the oil companies hiked prices. Within a matter of days, they had tripled their profit margins for refining oil from 50 cents per gallon to $1.50 per gallon, according to Jamie Court of the rate payer advocacy group Consumer Watchdog.
This is hardly a surprise. As many experts have pointed out, only five major companies (Chevron, Marathon, Valero, PBF Energy and Phillips 66) dominate production and distribution in the state. These companies may not be considered a cartel in a legal sense. But they sure do coordinate their price hikes—just like a cartel.
California also could soon face big fuel shortages of all sorts, driving prices still higher. California used to be a big producer of crude oil. But production has declined steeply over the last several decades. And companies have also been systematically closing oil refineries over the last four decades, bringing their numbers down from 40 refineries to 11 today. In the process, these companies have also slashed tens of thousands of jobs.
These cuts in supply are made worse by the fact that the California energy sector is considered an isolated “oil island,” since there are no interstate pipelines carrying crude oil and gasoline from the rest of the country. So, even though the U.S. produces more oil than any country in history, pumping 13.5 million barrels per day, California refineries depend on roughly 75% of their crude oil from other countries, almost one-third of which comes from the Middle East.
California also gets jet fuel and gasoline from countries whose refineries depend on the flow of oil from the Persian Gulf. So, with the Strait of Hormuz still closed, South Korea and India—two of California’s biggest fuel suppliers—are dramatically slowing exports, threatening to squeeze the Golden State’s energy supplies even more. This month, South Korea is set to ship about half the jet fuel it normally sends to California.
Obviously, the longer the Iran war goes on, the worse this crisis will get.
Moreover, even if this crisis is resolved and crude oil begins to flow more freely, California, with its enormous population of 39 million residents, and its enormous economy, ranked fourth in the world all by itself, will continue to be threatened with much bigger price hikes and fuel shortages, given the worsening global instability. But as history shows, the big oil companies won’t miss a beat in using each new crisis as a justification to increase their prices … and profits.