ATC Atlantic Coal

RNS No 3693w
ATLANTIC RICHFIELD COMPANY
17th October 1997


Superior Court Judge Grants Summary Judgement in Favour of ARCO, 8 Other Oil
Companies in Class-Action Lawsuit

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- A Superior Court judge in San Diego County
today granted a summary judgement in favour of ARCO and eight other oil
companies in a class-action lawsuit alleging a conspiracy to fix gasoline prices
in California following the introduction of cleaner-burning, CARB Phase 2
gasoline last year.

In his ruling this afternoon, Judge David J. Danielsen said that circumstantial
evidence presented by the plaintiffs was "insufficient to suggest an agreement
in restraint of trade."

Judge Danielsen further stated: "While the evidence suggests that each defendant
searched out and obtained as much information as it could on its competitors'
plans, such a search does not offend antitrust liability without evidence that
those plans were coordinated to restrict trade. Plaintiffs' evidence does not
support even the inference of such an agreement."

The defendants were ARCO, Chevron Corp., Exxon Corp., Mobil Oil Corp., Shell Oil
Company, Texaco, Inc., Tosco Corp., Ultramar Corp. and Unocal Corp.

In a statement following the ruling, ARCO said: "We are gratified by the court's
ruling, coming as it did after an exhaustive investigation by the plaintiffs and
the presentation of voluminous evidence. As we've said many times, the price
increases that occurred following the introduction of Phase 2 gasoline were the
result of market forces, not conspiracies. The judge's opinion is in line with
the findings of several governmental investigations, none of which found any
evidence that refiners conspired to raise prices."


For information, contact: Scott Loll, 213-486-2562, or Albert Greenstein,
213-486-3384.

Web site: http://www.arco.com(ARC)

END

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