Sale of Carson Refinery Approved

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Tesoro Corp. on Friday said it received approval from state and federal regulators to buy BP Plc’s oil refinery in Carson and other assets.

The $2 billion deal between the San Antonio refiner and the London oil and gas giant, first announced in August, did not require Tesoro to sell any assets in order to appease anti-trust concerns.

However, state Attorney General Kamala Harris said that Tesoro and BP agreed to retrofit both the Carson refinery and a Tesoro refinery in nearby Wilmington to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The deal also includes taking over BP’s Arco gasoline station brand, and Tesoro agreed keep Arco as “the low-cost fuel provider in California,” Harris said.

In addition, Tesoro agreed to preserve more than 1,000 jobs at the Wilmington refinery for at least the next two years.

BP and Tesoro agreed that the Attorney General’s Office and the California Energy Commission would monitor gas pricing, volume and refinery capacity. They also agreed to implement safeguards against price spiking from refinery outages through increased capacity for production at other regional refineries they operate.

“We’ve signed a side letter agreement with the California attorney general, and fully expect to be able to meet their requirements,” Tesoro spokeswoman Tina Barbee said.

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