U.S. refiner Tesoro Corp. has received formal approval from antitrust regulators to purchase a BP Plc refinery in southern California for more than $2 billion without requiring any asset sales.The Federal Trade Commission, which assessed the deal to ensure it complies with antitrust law, said there was evidence that combining the BP refinery and a Tesoro refinery, which nearly abut each other, could reduce the cost of producing the special, low-carbon gasoline that state law requires be sold in California."Demand for California-grade gasoline has declined over the last decade and is projected to continue to do so. Additionally, seven major refiners supply the West Coast, and that number will not change as a result of the deal," said the FTC said in a statement.California Attorney General Kamala Harris must also approve the sale before it can proceed. A spokesman for Harris said she had no immediate comment on the FTC decision.
BP p.l.c. (BP) is an integrated oil and gas company. Shares of BP traded higher by 0.49% or $0.21/share to $42.96. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $36.25 and as high as $45.45. On average, 6732520 shares of BP exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 3700002.
Source
