CALIFORNIA — Oil giant Chevron has filed a motion in federal court in California seeking to dismiss a lawsuit accusing the company of manipulating gas prices statewide.
The nearly 50-page filing, submitted on March 26, 2026, at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, challenges a class-action lawsuit filed in 2025. The plaintiffs allege that Chevron and other refiners coordinated to raise gas prices by misreporting compliance costs for the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) program.
In its filing to the court, Chevron argues that the plaintiffs provided no specific evidence that the companies agreed on gas prices, despite prior concerns about California’s climate policies potentially causing the oil industry to collapse.
“The plaintiffs do not identify any specific price set by the defendants, nor do they demonstrate that the companies uniformly incorporated inflated LCFS costs into retail prices,” the filing states.
Chevron also argued that the allegation of a gas price manipulation “conspiracy” lacks logic.
“If the goal were to raise gas prices, the companies could directly adjust prices. There is no need for a mechanism as complex as what the plaintiffs describe,” the filing states.
According to the allegations, the defendants began adding approximately 7 cents per gallon in LCFS-related costs starting January 1, 2025, while the new regulations were not effective until July 1, 2025.
In addition to Chevron, the defendants include major California refiners such as Valero, PBF Energy, Marathon Petroleum, Phillips 66, and several other companies — this group controls approximately 97% of the state’s gasoline supply.
The lawsuit comes amid sharply rising gas prices in California, averaging nearly $6 per gallon, with the Los Angeles area exceeding $6 per gallon.
Some companies in the industry are also changing their operations. Valero’s Benicia refinery is expected to cease operations by the end of April 2026, while Phillips 66 announced the closure of its Los Angeles facility in late 2025. The market is witnessing unusual shifts as Costco opens gas stations priced below market rates to support consumers during the price surge.
In its motion to dismiss, Chevron and related parties argue that the plaintiffs lack legal standing to sue and have not demonstrated the existence of a price-fixing agreement.
The original lawsuit was filed by two law firms and the organization Consumer Watchdog on November 26, 2025.
