(The Center Square) – California needs to produce more oil to keep gas prices from hitting $8 to $10 a gallon, a Republican assemblymember said during a virtual news conference Monday.

Ten years ago, California produced 468,000 barrels of crude oil a day throughout the state, said Assemblymember Stan Ellis, R-Bakersfield. His city is in Kern County, known for its oil fields and refineries.

“We’re down to 168,000 barrels today,” Ellis, a rancher and businessman who has worked in oil production, told reporters from The Center Square and other media.

The state is making up the difference by getting oil from third-world countries with poor human rights records, Ellis said during the conference, which also included industry expert Ted Cordova.

Ellis, a member of the Assembly Committee on

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