Vitol Sued for Using Blast to Gouge Californians at Pump (1)

Vitol Inc. and SK Trading International Co. took advantage of market disruptions after a 2015 refinery explosion in Southern California to drive up gasoline prices for residents in the most populous state, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a lawsuit.

“I’m taking two multinational gas companies to court to prove they manipulated gas prices to illegally enrich themselves at the cost of California consumers,” Becerra said Monday in a statement. “Price gouging, whether it’s toilet paper or gasoline, stinks.”

If the allegedly illegal activities in 2015, including manipulative trading in violation of state antitrust and competition laws, led to ...