There is less than a month left for eligible California consumers to file a claim in the $50 million settlement the state won against energy trading companies Vitol Inc. and SK Energy Americas Inc., along with their parent company, SK Trading International. The case centered around allegations of gasoline price manipulation in 2015 following a major refinery explosion in Southern California.
Case background
The controversy began in February 2015 when an explosion at the Torrance refinery disrupted gasoline production in California. This facility supplied roughly 20% of the state’s gasoline, and the explosion created a sudden market imbalance. The California Attorney General’s Office alleged that Vitol and SK Energy exploited this disruption through unlawful trading practices, leading to artificially inflated gasoline prices that impacted millions of consumers.
The lawsuit, filed in May 2020, accused the companies of leveraging their market positions to engage in manipulative strategies, unlawfully profiting from the crisis. Both companies have denied any wrongdoing but have agreed to settle the claims to avoid prolonged litigation.