Arco

Atlantic Richfield Co. was assessed $23,500 in fines and penalties Thursday after pleading no contest to a complaint that it negligently discharged air contaminants from its Carson refinery in May. Compton Municipal Court Judge Carlos Moreno also ordered Arco to make repairs to prevent a repeat of the discharge, which occurred when black smoke belched from a coke heater and gas unit incinerator for five minutes May 29.

State and federal authorities cleared the way Friday for Tesoro Corp. to buy BP's Carson refinery, the Arco brand and other assets, and the Texas oil giant agreed to California restrictions on prices, jobs and retrofits to protect the environment. The $2.5-billion deal, cut in the aftermath of the BP oil drilling disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, could be completed as early as June 1. Under the deal with the California attorney general's office, Tesoro agreed to maintain the 1,000 jobs at its Wilmington refinery for the next two years.

Robert O. Anderson, 68, the former longtime chairman of Atlantic Richfield, said he will leave Arco's board Sept. 1 and return to his roots as an independent oilman in New Mexico. "I look forward once again to getting back to the Oil Patch," said Anderson, who started out as an independent producer in 1941 and built a company that became a principal part of what is now Arco, the nation's seventh-largest oil producer.

Tesoro Corp. won federal and state clearance for its purchase of BP's Carson refinery, Arco stations and other assets for $2.4 billion, an acquisition that would further concentrate the state's fuel-making capacity into only two players - Tesoro and Chevron Corp. The twin actions Friday were immediately blasted by consumer advocates as a disaster for California consumers, who already pay some of the nation's highest gasoline and diesel prices. Tesoro and Chevron would control more than half of the refining business in California, which the activist groups contend would allow the two companies to influence what customers pay at the pump.

Until "Workers at Arco Speculate on Who Will Stay, Who Will Go" (May 6), I was unaware that The Times had renounced the virtues of objective journalism and become a teller of stories, much like the brothers Grimm. You know the theme--some not-so-nice events glossed over with pretty words and concluding with happily-ever-after. I am not arguing the need of the company to reorganize. Arco, always a forerunner of trends, is responding as its management feels necessary in order to effectively compete in the oil industry.

Little to the surprise of Wall Street analysts, Atlantic Richfield Co. said Monday that a companywide reorganization announced last fall would result in an after-tax charge of $450 million against the firm's fourth-quarter earnings, which will be announced Jan. 24. The portion of the charge representing an outlay of cash--$60 million--will be used for severance pay, insurance and other costs associated with layoffs, according to Al Greenstein, spokesman for the Los Angeles-based firm.

Atlantic Richfield on Wednesday agreed to purchase oil and gas properties in five states from a subsidiary of Reichhold Chemical for an undisclosed amount of cash. Analysts said the properties in California, Kansas, Missouri, Oregon and Washington were small but productive. Charles Rose, a chemical industry analyst with Oppenheimer & Co. in New York, said the properties were worth "no more than $100 million and perhaps well under that."

A federal judge in Great Falls, Mont., has approved a $260-million settlement between the state of Montana and Atlantic Richfield Co., ending 16 years of court battles. The case involves 100 years of pollution in the Upper Clark Fork River Basin from mining and smelter operations. Los Angeles-based Arco inherited the problems in the 1970s, when it acquired Anaconda Co.

The Los Angeles Superior Court suit by William Ariano was the third recently filed by former Atlantic Richfield executives who claimed they were fired in connection with a federal investigation into Arco's dealings with indicted tax evader and fugitive oil trader Marc Rich. In his suit, Ariano claimed he was wrongfully fired in March, 1984, by company officials who used him as a scapegoat to cover possible illegal oil trading. He is seeking $500,000 in damages.

Atlantic Richfield, the nation's sixth-largest oil company, reported Monday that it recorded a loss for the year and that fourth-quarter earnings dropped 50.1%. Mobil, the No. 2 ranked oil company, reported that its fourth-quarter earnings increased about 50%, primarily due to "much healthier" profit margins on refined petroleum products in the United States and abroad.

California Atty. Gen. Kamala D. Harris has filed a civil lawsuit against BP West Coast Products, BP Products North America Inc. and Atlantic Richfield Co., accusing them of violating state laws on hazardous materials and hazardous waste. The lawsuit accuses the parties of failing to properly inspect and maintain underground tanks used to store gasoline at more than 780 gas stations in California. "Safe storage of gasoline is not only common sense, it is essential to protecting the integrity of California's groundwater resources," Harris said.

Carrie Arcos was mystified when she received an email from the National Book Foundation instructing her to call its office. "I thought I was in trouble or something," said the Los Angeles mother of three. It turned out to be just the opposite. "Out of Reach," her young adult novel about siblings and meth addiction, had been chosen as a finalist for the National Book Awards. "It's so unbelievable to me that this is happening," said Arcos, a first-time novelist. The finalists for the National Book Awards were announced Wednesday.

As California gasoline prices set fresh records daily, consumer advocates are gearing up to fight the sale of the low-cost Arco brand and its Carson refinery to a Texas company not known for its cheap fuel. Some experts are calling the proposed $2.5-billion sale to Tesoro Corp. of San Antonio the biggest shift in California's petroleum business in decades. Activists say the deal, announced in August, would reduce competition and possibly raise prices for motorists, and they will ask state and federal regulators to reject it. The transaction is drawing fire now - with California's average gasoline price at a record $4.671 a gallon Tuesday, according to AAA - because it would leave 51% of the state's refining capacity in the hands of just two companies: Tesoro and Chevron Corp.

Jesse Gomez leans over the railing of the mezzanine level of his new Santa Monica Mexican restaurant, Mercado, looking down on the buzzing scene below. It's early on a Wednesday night and already every table in the sleek, white room is full, as is every seat at the bar where mixologist Gilbert Marquez shakes up a storm of Latin-influenced craft cocktails. "It's like this every night," Gomez says of the restaurant, which is in the same 4th Street block as the famed Border Grill. "And on Friday and Saturday nights it fills upstairs too. " The high-octane hustle and bustle in the dining room is the realization of a third-generation immigrant success story.

Texas oil giant Tesoro Corp. said it will spend $2.5 billion to buy a sprawling refinery in Carson and other assets -- including the Arco brand -- from rival BP. The move would leave most of California's gasoline production in the hands of just two companies: Tesoro and Chevron Corp. The deal would greatly boost Tesoro's presence in the region. The San Antonio company already has agreements with more than 1,200 stations nationwide that sell its gas under the Shell, USA Gasoline and Tesoro brands.

California gasoline prices are continuing to creep lower as fuel costs around much of the nation are still rising, but the cash that can be saved by using one or two of several available smartphone apps can be significant. In California, the average retail price for a gallon of regular gasoline is $4.29, down 3.9 cents since last week. Los Angeles currently has the dubious distinction of having some of the state's highest prices, but the spread between service stations only a few miles apart can be immense.

State officials are facing the daunting task of trying to locate the living descendants of several prehistoric skeletal remains found at the Arco oil refinery in Carson, officials said Friday. Workers stumbled across the brown, brittle bones and a skull with the teeth intact Thursday while draining water from a 60-foot-by-60-foot trench, said Arco spokesman Walter Neil. The water caused the sides of the 4-foot-deep trench to slough off, exposing the remains, he said.

Atlantic Richfield agreed to establish a $450,000 environmental scholarship fund at UCLA after pleading no contest Thursday to charges that it illegally discharged oily waste from its Carson refinery into the sewer system, Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner announced. He said the settlement would serve as a warning to major corporations.

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday revived a class-action lawsuit accusing Arco, Chevron and several other refiners of conspiring to fix gasoline prices during the mid-1990s. But the same panel expressed doubt that the plaintiffs would be able to prove their case. The ruling stems from a suit filed by William O. Gilley on behalf of other wholesale buyers of the cleaner-burning fuel that since 1996 has been required in California.

Today's games at Arco Arena, Sacramento Division II: Rialto Eisenhower (31-3) vs. Rocklin (32-2), 8 -- This is a rematch of a game won by Eisenhower, 77-66, in December. Creighton-bound guard Andrew Bock scored 25 points in that game for the Eagles, who made 14 three-point shots. Rocklin is led by UCLA signee Brendan Lane, a 6-foot-10 center who creates matchup problems for Eisenhower because the Eagles have 6-4 forward Bernard Ireland and no other player taller than 6-2.