Corporate & Store Operations

Slashing demand for gasoline is the only responsible way to fight soaring U.S. pump prices, environmentalists say.

Valero Energy Corp. and Ultramar Diamond Shamrock Corp. weren't the only two oil companies making merger news today as Williams Cos. Inc. agreed to buy oil and natural gas company Barrett Resources Corp. for approximately $2.5 billion in cash and stock.

In the Tri-Cities area, Aztex has sold four stations to Mountain Empire Oil. The company has a purchase agreement for the sale of its nine Nashville stores and two pieces of vacant property there to Parman Oil Co.

The office of the Kremlin property manager Vladimir Kozhin filed the lawsuit. Attorney Nancy Ashenoff said it follows the lines of other lawsuits filed by her firm for Ecuador, Venezuela and Brazilian states.

The job cuts, meant to save $75 million a year, are in addition to an early retirement program offered to 970 workers. Those employees have until October to decide if they want to retire.

Sunoco has received "viable offers" for the Kendall brand, customer lists and a lubricants-blending plant in Tulsa, Okla., spokesperson Jerry Davis said. The company expects to take an unspecified third-quarter charge to write down the assets' value.