Newsom’s office turned Memorial Day weekend into another front in its dispute with Chevron over California gas prices, urging drivers to avoid the company’s branded stations as pump costs remain elevated. The warning, delivered through the governor’s office posting on X, said “unbranded gas” sold at other outlets can meet state standards and that consumers can save by choosing alternatives rather than paying for the Chevron label.
In the post on Thursday, Newsom’s office directed drivers to consider the fuel behind the branding. “Pro tip: unbranded gas comes from the same refineries, storage tanks, and pipelines, and it meets the same state standards to keep your engine running clean,” the office wrote. It added that “Big Oil is already making billions off Trump’s Iran War; don’t let them rip you off even more by overpaying for the brand name,” according to the same post.
The governor’s office said its guidance relied on an analysis tied to California’s energy oversight. It cited a study by a group within the California Energy Commission that, Newsom’s office said, found Chevron averaged more than 60 to 80 cents per gallon above unbranded alternatives.
Chevron, meanwhile, has posted competing messages at stations around the state and has also faced political pressure over its role in California campaigns. The Associated Press reported that Chevron signs blamed California’s climate policies for the high cost of gas. The signs included a QR code directing drivers to a Chevron webpage asking people to “speak up for affordable, reliable energy,” and the timing of the signs’ installation was not immediately clear.
When asked about the signs, Chevron spokesman Ross Allen described them as part of a longer-running outreach effort. Allen said the signs are part of a campaign the company launched three years ago to inform drivers about the price impacts of California policies, and he said, “We’ve been very vocal about the importance of customer education in California so that our drivers and our consumers understand where their tax dollars are going.”
Allen also said most Chevron stations in California are not company-owned and are instead operated independently, with owners setting their own prices. He said there are hundreds of Chevron gas stations operating in the state and that most are independently operated. The dispute therefore runs through both pricing and branding, with Newsom’s office focusing on the premium it says consumers pay for the Chevron name.
The renewed clash comes as California’s gas prices remained high heading into the holiday travel period. According to the American Automobile Association, the average price of gas in California was $6.14 per gallon on Thursday—about $1.58 higher than the national average. The report also said the state taxes consumers about 70 cents per gallon of gas, citing the California Energy Commission, and described that figure as the highest gas tax in the country.
The political fight has also broadened beyond the pump, with Chevron becoming part of a governor’s-race argument among Democrats. The Associated Press reported that billionaire climate activist Tom Steyer criticized former federal health secretary Xavier Becerra for campaign contributions from the company, with both Steyer and Becerra Democrats.
Behind the day-to-day pricing, the report pointed to wider market conditions linked to the Iran war and the energy disruption it has caused. It said gasoline prices have swelled nationwide since the Iran war began, amid a global energy crisis, with crude oil climbing because the Strait of Hormuz—through which a fifth of the world’s crude oil normally passes—has been effectively shut. The story said oil tankers have been stranded there unable to deliver crude, tightening supply and pushing up costs.
Newsom has cast California’s energy and regulatory approach as aimed at reducing gas prices even as policymakers face pushback. The report said he signed a 2023 law allowing the state’s energy commission to penalize oil companies for excess profits, then said regulators voted last year to hold off on plans to penalize businesses until 2030 while prioritizing other efforts to protect consumers at the pump. It added that the postponement followed announcements by two oil refineries accounting for about 18% of the state’s refining capacity that they planned to close, reigniting debate over the price impacts of California’s climate policies. The report also said Newsom signed another law in 2024 giving the commission authority to require refineries to keep a certain amount of fuel on hand to try to prevent sudden price increases when refineries go offline for maintenance, but that the regulation has also stalled.