Big Oil spends record $10 million on lobbying CA officials in first quarter of 2026

Sacramento, Calif. — The oil and gas industry spent a total of $10.3 million on lobbying and influencing state officials in the first quarter of 2026, the biggest first-quarter total on record, according to figures reported to the Secretary of State.

The quarter follows the second largest lobbying spending spree by the oil industry of $34 million in 2025 as Big Oil pushed through legislation, SB 237, to increase oil drilling approvals in Kern County, the epicenter of oil production in California, by up to 2,000 new wells per month.

It is no surprise that the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA), the oil industry trade organization for the States of California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada and Arizona, was the top spender in the first quarter, pumping over $4.3 million into lobbying efforts against climate and polluter accountability legislation.

Its key member, Chevron, the giant corporation infamous for its human rights violations and environmental devastation of indigenous communities around the world and complicity with the Israeli government's genocide in Gaza, placed second in the Big Oil lobbying expenses with $3.7 million.

The Western States Petroleum Association and Chevron are consistently the biggest spenders on lobbying in Sacramento every year, as I have documented in article after article over the years.

The Top 5 lobbying and influence spenders of Q1 were:

"BP America, California Resources Corporation, Chevron, Marathon Petroleum, Oxy Low Carbon Ventures, and WSPA all lobbied the California Air Resources Board (CARB) on the Cap-and-Invest program," according to the Last Chance Alliance. "This coincides with a misinformation campaign from Big Oil blaming climate policy for refinery closures and high gas prices, and pushing for a $2 billion bailout in Cap-and-Invest. Lawmakers and climate advocates are pushing back against these efforts."

WSPA, California Independent Petroleum Association (CIPA), California Resources Corporation (CRC), Chevron, and Valero all lobbied against SB 1259, what advocates call "a common-sense transparency law" that would require refineries to disclose estimated costs and timelines for closure and remediation.

"While Big Oil reaps record windfall profits from the war on Iran, they're spending lavishly on Sacramento lobbyists to try to kill even the most basic community protections and transparency measures," said Faraz Rizvi with Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN) Action. "These lobbying numbers tell you everything you need to know — Big Oil isn't struggling right now. They're just determined to leave our communities holding the bag on their way out the door."

WSPA, CIPA, CRC, and Chevron also all lobbied against AB 2461 (The Oil Well Cleanup Accountability Act), which clarifies existing law to require full bonding for cleanup costs of any transferred oil wells. They also worked on AB 2716, which would create massive loopholes in existing bonding rules by allowing what advocates call “pinky-swear” financial assurances in the form of corporate guarantees for transferred oil wells, the Alliance noted.

“Big Oil’s eye-popping expenditures to fight legislation that keeps Californians safe shows how far the industry will go to evade common sense oversight,” said Hollin Kretzmann, a senior attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute. “The Oil Well Accountability Act, one of the industry’s targets, would help make sure oil companies actually pay to clean up their idle, polluting wells. It’s a basic protection for Californians, and lawmakers should pass it.”

As California’s transportation fuels transition and a tight state budget remain priority issues for lawmakers in Sacramento, advocates stress that "without transparency and accountability for the costs of remediation, both idle oil wells and unplanned refinery closures threaten to saddle taxpayers and communities with pollution and cleanup costs."

SB 1259, AB 2461, and AB 2716 are now before the Senate and Assembly Appropriations Committees.

Oil corporations successfully lobbied against SB 982, the Affordable Insurance and Reliability Act, which would have helped hold polluters accountable for insurance and rebuilding costs from fossil-fuel induced climate disasters, as well as AB 1536, which would have strengthened the state’s protections against President Trump’s plans to open new offshore oil drilling leases in federal waters off the California coast.

The lobbying disclosures also reveal that three-quarters of the oil and gas entities spending went towards “other payments” to influence state policy—which include fees to consultants, trade association dues, and donations to industry front groups—rather than on direct lobbying itself: they spent $7.8 million on "other payments" and $2.6 million on in-house and external lobbyists.

"The record lobbying spending comes as oil companies announce their first-quarter profits, with Chevron making $2.2 billion and Valero making $1.3 billion. Average gasoline prices in California topped $6 per gallon on April 30," the Alliance pointed out.

Top industry front group Californians for Energy Independence scored nearly $1.8 million in itemized contributions in Q1, all of it from Chevron.

"The front group used most of that money to pay Winner and Mandabach Campaigns, a consulting firm that specializes in ballot measures. Winner and Mandabach Campaigns previously worked for Californians for Energy Independence during Big Oil’s failed attempt to overturn California’s health buffer zones between schools and oil wells," the advocates disclosed.

Other top payees of the oil and gas entities were ML Media Group ($1.2 million from WSPA), The Axis Agency ($507,000 from WSPA), California Business Roundtable ($500,000 from Chevron), and Flexpoint Advocacy ($500,000 from WSPA).

"The Washington, D.C.-based PR firm DDC Public Affairs, notorious for its work with industry front groups that pushed deceptive messages. The firm got $137,000 from Chevron and has increased its haul from oil and gas firms in California since 2023," the Alliance wrote.

The top five lobbying firms to service the oil and gas industry in Q1 were Buchalter ($371,000), Carpenter Garcia Sievers ($277,000), Axiom Advisors ($210,000), Kester/Pahos ($110,000), and Prime Strategies of California ($96,000; the firm also received $125,000 from Phillips 66, classified as “other payments”). 

Big Oil pumped $34 million into influencing lawmakers in Sacramento in 2025, allowing fossil fuel corporations to stonewall and roll back critical health and climate policy in a year marked by the LA Fires and climate disasters across the planet.

This total wasn’t far from 2024’s $38 million total, the fossil fuel industry’s highest spending year ever. Influence spending in the fourth quarter of 2025 was $7.7 million.

As usual, Chevron and the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) spent the most money of the fossil fuel industry – 73% of the $34 million. Chevron finished first in the spending with $12.9 million, while WSPA placed second with $12.4 million, coming to a total of $25.3 million.

Chevron and the Western States Petroleum Association have not been only the biggest spenders in the fossil fuel industry, but have been the top spenders on overall lobbying in Sacramento most years.

Californians for Energy Independence, an oil industry front group heavily funded by companies like Chevron that advocates for local oil and gas production, also poured $6.7 million into “general issues relating to energy independence in California,” according to disclosures on the California Secretary of the State’s website.

WSPA and the oil companies wield their power in 8 major ways: through (1) lobbying; (2) campaign spending; (3) serving on and putting shills on regulatory panels; (4) creating Astroturf groups; (5) working in collaboration with media; (6) sponsoring awards ceremonies and dinners, including those for legislators and journalists; (7) contributing contributing to non profit organizations; and (8) creating alliances with labor unions, mainly construction trades.