California energy regulators halt efforts to penalize oil companies for high profits

September 1, 2025

FILE PHOTO: Crude tankers are shown at the port of Long Beach, California, U.S., March 8, 2022. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California energy regulators Friday put the brakes on plans requiring oil companies to pay a penalty if their profits climb too high, a temporary win for the fossil fuel industry two years after the governor declared the state had “finally beat big oil.”