Phillips completes Tosco acquisition for $7 billion

BARTLESVILLE, Okla. (AP) -- Phillips Petroleum Co. has closed its $7 billion acquisition of Tosco Corp. after getting regulatory clearance from the Federal Trade Commission.

The deal that closed Monday is bigger than Phillips' $6.5 billion purchase of the Atlantic Richfield Co.'s properties in Alaska in April of last year.

The Tosco purchase creates the second-largest refiner in the country. It also creates the fifth-largest gas retailer in number of service stations and the third-largest based on gallons of fuel sold.

There were no requirements for divestiture of assets, the company said in a press release.

''We have combined two strong complementary companies into a significant refining and marketing competitor in the United States,'' said Jim Mulva, Phillips' chairman and chief executive.

Effective with the close, Michael J. Panatier became chief operating officer of Phillips' refining, marketing and transportation business, Phillips 66 Co. Panatier also will remain executive vice president of Phillips Petroleum Co.

Tom O'Malley, chairman and chief executive of Tosco, became vice chairman and a member of Phillips' board of directors.

O'Malley, 60, will remain an employee and vice chairman through Dec. 31. Afterward, he will remain on the Phillips board.

Phillips 66 now owns 10 U.S. refinery systems with a combined capacity of 1.7 million barrels per day, along with a 75,000 barrels-per-day refinery in Ireland. The company will market its products nationwide through 12,400 branded outlets, including the Phillips 66, '76 and Circle K brands.

The refining headquarters is in Linden, N.J., with marketing headquarters based in Tempe, Ariz. Certain functions, including research and development, are housed at Phillips' corporate headquarters in Bartlesville.