California’s Energy Commission on Friday recommended pausing a planned profit-margin cap on oil refiners and streamlining permits for fuel imports to cushion motorists from looming supply shocks. Vice Chair Siva Gunda told reporters the measures respond to Governor Gavin Newsom’s request for options before 1 July and are aimed at keeping refineries open while attracting private investment in import terminals. The state is bracing for the shutdown of Phillips 66’s Los Angeles refinery later this year and Valero’s Benicia plant by April 2026—closures that together represent about 20 percent of California’s refining capacity. Gunda said retail prices could climb 15 to 30 cents a gallon as capacity tightens but argued the recommended changes, along with efforts to stabilise in-state crude production, could offset much of the increase. California gasoline averaged $4.61 a gallon on Friday, the highest in the United States and well above the $3.21 national average, according to AAA. The commission’s advice arrives days before a scheduled increase in the state gasoline excise tax to 61.2 cents per gallon and the start of tighter Low Carbon Fuel Standard requirements on 1 July. Oil producers and some lawmakers warn the combined policies could lift pump prices by as much as 47 to 70 cents a gallon and push them beyond $6, while environmental and consumer advocates condemned the regulator’s proposal as a bailout for refiners and called instead for stricter price-gouging penalties.