ARCO, other oil companies, win unanimous court ruling

Petroleum News Alaska

A California Court of Appeal ruled unanimously Jan. 31 that ARCO and eight other oil companies were entitled to summary judgment in Aguilar v. Atlantic Richfield Co., et al., because “there is no evidence of an agreement among them” to fix prices or limit the supply of cleaner-burning gasoline mandated by California.

ARCO said Feb. 1 that the court of appeal, after examining all of the evidence in the case, ruled that the Superior Court of San Diego had correctly decided the case in favor of ARCO and the other defendants without a trial in October 1997. Although the lower court later granted a motion for new trial, the court of appeal found that the original summary judgment order was correct, and agreed with the “exhaustive and well-reasoned” opinion issued by the trial court in October 1997.

Specifically, the court of appeal agreed with the trial court’s original conclusion that “the evidence Plaintiffs provided to the Court suggests not a complex tangled web, but nine defendants using all available information sources to determine capacity, supply and pricing decisions which would maximize their own individual profits — without regard to the profits of their competitors.”

ARCO said it has continued its low-cost, high-volume competitive strategy in connection with the implementation of the state of California’s gasoline requirements, and it is gratified by the court’s decision.