Shell receives FTC approval for acquisition of Pennzoil-Quaker State

Petroleum News Alaska Staff

Shell Oil Co. received U.S. Federal Trade Commission clearance for its proposed acquisition of Pennzoil-Quaker State Co. Sept. 27.

Shell said Sept. 30 that it and Pennzoil-Quaker State entered into a consent order with the FTC to resolve the agency’s concerns about the U.S. group II base oil marketplace. The transaction was expected to be completed Oct. 1.

Shell agreed to divest itself of Pennzoil-Quaker State’s 50 percent ownership interest in Excel Paralubes, a base oil processing facility that is a joint venture between Conoco Inc. and Pennzoil-Quaker State, and place it immediately in a trust.

The facility, adjacent to the Conoco refinery near Lake Charles, La., has the capacity to produce some 21,000 barrels per day of group II base oil, the primary base stock in motor oil.

Shell said top levels of management for the lubricant facility have already been named.

Shell is a wholly owned member of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Cos.

Shell Oil Products US is a leader in the marketing of fuels, lubricants, coolants, services and solutions to consumer and business-to-business customers in automotive, commercial and industrial sectors, operates refineries and a pipeline and terminal system and has a network of nearly 9,000 branded gasoline stations in the Western United States. Shell Oil Co. is a 50 percent owner of Motiva Enterprises LLC, along with Saudi Refining Inc., which refines and markets branded products through 13,000 stations in the eastern and southern United States.