California Air Resources Board

Shell Oil Products US/ Shell Martinez Refinery Settled for $20,000

In January 2020, a case was settled for $20,000 with Shell Oil Products US related to a reformulated gasoline violation at their Shell Martinez Refinery.  Shell was penalized for failing to report the fuel specifications of four blends of gasoline in violation of the California Reformulated Gasoline Regulation (CaRFG) as codified in California Code of Regulations (CCR), title 13, sections 2250-2273.5, et seq. (13 CCR § 2250-2273.5); and specifically, CaRFG section 2265 and 2268.

California Air Resources Board (CARB) staff found the first violation through a routine audit.  Further investigation of the incident by Shell revealed three additional violations that Shell self-disclosed to CARB.

Factors that influenced their penalty included Shell’s full cooperation with CARB’s investigation, self-disclosing three violations, the fuel complied with a previous predictive model specifications and never before had a violation of this type.

Shell agreed to pay $20,000 to the California Air Pollution Control Fund.

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