Unocal

Fueled by higher oil and natural-gas prices, Unocal Corp.'s profit doubled in the first quarter, the company said Wednesday. The El Segundo-based firm posted net income of $269 million, or $1 a share, in the quarter ended March 31, up from $134 million, or 52 cents, a year earlier. That surpassed Wall Street analysts' expectations of 80 cents a share, according to an average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson First Call. Revenue rose 6% to $1.89 billion.

Federal trade commissioners on Wednesday expressed serious doubts about an administrative judge's recent decision to dismiss antitrust charges against Unocal Corp. The Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint against Unocal in March last year, saying the company's anti-competitive tactics could cost consumers up to $500 million a year.

A mixture of oil and saltwater oozed onto Albertoni Street in Carson on Monday after the rupture of a Unocal oil company pipeline. A Los Angeles County fire official said about five barrels of oily liquid was released onto the road in the spill, which affected the south side of Albertoni just east of its intersection with Avalon Boulevard.

Executives from Chevron Corp. and Unocal Corp. will begin visiting Unocal's largest shareholders today to win their backing for Chevron's takeover bid despite lingering hopes that a higher offer might come from China's CNOOC Ltd. El Segundo-based Unocal has agreed to be purchased by Chevron in a stock and cash deal worth $17.3 billion Wednesday, or $63.65 a share, and the company's shareholders will vote on that proposal Aug. 10.

For the third time in less than three years, Unocal Corp. has been penalized for air pollution caused by its Wilmington oil refinery--this time to the tune of $30,000. Los Angeles Municipal Court Commissioner Joseph Spada on Monday ordered Unocal to pay the money as a contribution to a clean fuels research program run by the South Coast Air Quality Management District. The company had pleaded no contest to charges that fuel gas escaped from its Wilmington refinery on Sept.

Unocal Corp.'s board on Monday approved a major management reorganization designed to refocus the company on its strategic plans, including the formation of a new 76 Products Co. to handle its West Coast refining and marketing operations. Roger Beach, who became Unocal's chief executive on May 1, will head a new office of the chief executive. Joining him will be John Imle Jr.

Re "Last Burma Cowboy Stands Fast" by Tom Plate, Commentary, Dec. 24: Unocal President John Imle's attempt to separate his company's billion-dollar-plus investment in Burma from any impact on the prosperity of the country's brutal dictatorship is at best naive, a bewildering throwback to the long-gone days when Americans didn't expect big business to practice minimum morality. The SLORC, the official name for the dictators, has proved to be an outlaw band of thieves and murderers. How do you do business with people like this and even pretend to keep your hands clean?

Florida has temporarily blocked Union Oil of California's plans to drill for oil and gas off the state's southwest coast, Gov. Bob Martinez announced Monday. Martinez said the state sent the U.S. Department of the Interior a formal objection to Unocal's plan to drill three exploratory wells, halting the company's plans until it appeals to Secretary of Commerce C. William Verity.

Los Angeles-based Unocal Corp. reported first-quarter earnings of $74 million, or 27 cents a share, Wednesday, contrasted with a loss of $214 million, or 92 cents a share, for the same period a year ago. Excluding the effect of special adjustments, Unocal's earnings for the quarter were $54 million, compared to $71 million the year before. Revenue for the three months ended March 31 totaled $1.96 billion, compared to $1.92 billion in the first quarter of 1994. Roger C.

Another oil giant -- this time, ChevronTexaco Corp. -- reportedly is eyeing a takeover of Unocal Corp., whose stock soared 12% on Thursday on the news. El Segundo-based Unocal, the eighth-largest domestic oil company, long has been considered a buyout target. But the speculation has intensified this year because big energy companies are cash-rich from soaring oil prices and hungry to acquire petroleum and natural gas reserves to buttress their production.