Shell Oil Co

Shell Oil Co. said Monday that it would sell its Bakersfield refinery to one of the largest truck-stop chains in the U.S., giving a surprise reprieve to California motorists. The deal with Ogden, Utah-based Flying J Inc. came weeks before the facility's planned March 31 closure. It could spare supply-strapped California the loss of 2% of its gasoline supply and 6% of its diesel. Terms of the sale to closely held Flying J's refining subsidiary, Big West Oil, weren't disclosed.

A U.S. senator from Oregon called Wednesday for an investigation into Shell Oil Co.'s plan to close its Bakersfield refinery, saying the move would benefit oil companies and worsen the tight gasoline market that is already causing pump prices to surge in California and the West. In a letter to the chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, Democrat Ron Wyden asked the agency to determine whether Shell's plan to close the refinery Oct.

The Federal Trade Commission said Wednesday that it was evaluating whether Shell Oil Co.'s plan to close its Bakersfield refinery raised antitrust or unfair competition concerns, but the agency stopped short of launching a formal investigation. The commission said it would conduct the review in a letter to Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), who had asked the FTC to investigate the planned closure, arguing that it would limit competition and raise gasoline prices for West Coast consumers.

California Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer, citing a need to ensure adequate supplies of diesel fuel to San Joaquin Valley farmers during the coming harvest, Friday asked Shell Oil Co. to postpone its scheduled Oct. 1 closure of a refinery in Bakersfield. Lockyer, who has ordered an investigation into whether the proposed shutdown violates state antitrust laws, also asked Shell to more aggressively seek a buyer for the 70,000 barrel-a-day facility.

New York investment firm Kelso & Co. has emerged as the leading bidder for Shell Oil Co.'s Bakersfield refinery, people familiar with the situation said Thursday. Kelso and others have been talking to Shell about buying the facility for several months, and Shell in the last week signed an agreement pledging to negotiate exclusively with the privately owned equity firm, the sources said.

Shell Oil Co. was ordered to stop selling the solvent toluene in California unless it revises warning labels to make clear the risks the chemical poses to pregnant mothers. Shell has 30 days to revise its warning labels under the ruling by a San Francisco Superior Court judge. Toluene is used in nail polish, glues and janitorial supplies, as well as in computer chip manufacturing and the aerospace industry. Attorneys for Shell weren't immediately available for comment.

Ten African American marketing employees of Shell Oil Co.--including five working in Los Angeles--have sued the oil industry giant for racial discrimination, contending that the company's voluntary affirmative action program has failed to promote blacks to higher management. The three female members of the Los Angeles contingent are also suing the company for gender discrimination in the action, filed last month in U.S.

Shell Oil Co., facing political criticism and threats of consumer boycotts on the Continent, reversed itself at the last minute Tuesday and said it would not sink an obsolete oil storage rig in the Atlantic. Shell was scheduled Tuesday to lower the 450-foot-tall storage platform into a deep trench 180 miles off Scotland. The company asserted this would be the cheapest, most sound way to dispose of the rig from the North Sea oil field.