Westly seeks Oil Probe

State Controller Steve Westly thinks California may be losing out on oil royalties:

State Controller Steve Westly on Tuesday called for a congressional investigation into what he said were unexplained anomalies in the prices for California-produced crude oil in recent years that have sharply reduced both state and federal oil-lease royalty income.

"California receives less revenue per barrel for its oil" while consumers here pay "more per gallon [of gasoline] than anywhere in the nation," Westly said in a statement.

The controller said the crude oil produced in California — the heavy variety from the San Joaquin Valley and elsewhere — was selling for an unusually low price compared with the price for the U.S. benchmark crude known as West Texas Intermediate.