Houston Chronicle: Gas stations allege price fixing in suit: “Shell Oil, ChevronTexaco and a unit of Saudi Aramco were sued by gasoline dealers who claim the companies conspired to fix the price of fuel sold to about 20,000 service stations nationwide.”: Karyn Leonardi-Cattolica, a spokeswoman for Houston-based Shell, the U.S. arm of the Royal Dutch-Shell Group, had no immediate comment.” (ShellNews.net)

ENERGY

Posted 4 Nov 04

Shell Oil, ChevronTexaco and a unit of Saudi Aramco were sued by gasoline dealers who claim the companies conspired to fix the price of fuel sold to about 20,000 service stations nationwide.

Four New York service stations filed a price-fixing suit this week on behalf of Shell and Texaco dealers. The station owners say the oil companies created two joint ventures, Equilon Enterprises and Motiva Enterprises, as a guise to overcharge dealers.

The lawsuit filed in Manhattan claims that in 1996, senior officers "met and entered into an agreement to raise, fix, peg and stabilize the price of motor fuel sold to Shell and Texaco dealers."

Karyn Leonardi-Cattolica, a spokeswoman for Houston-based Shell, the U.S. arm of the Royal Dutch-Shell Group, had no immediate comment.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/2883258