California Gov. Gavin Newsom continued his campaign to create a new tax for oil companies Oct. 25, targeting Valero for increasing its earnings during a time when the state’s consumers paid record prices at the pump. The Texas-based oil company released its third-quarter earnings report showing a net income earning of $2.8 billion from July…

Valero Energy Corp. has responded to the California’s Energy Commission’s (CEC) accusatory letter which claimed that the oil industry raised prices in California while global crude prices declined, and in the absence of any unplanned refinery outages, and no increases in state taxes or fees. “[C]rude oil prices are down and industry profits are up,…