Shell, Texaco, Saudi Aramco agree on combined downstream operations

July 16,1997 Shell Oil, Texaco and Saudi Aramco said they had reached a final agreement on the terms of combining their eastern and Gulf Coast downstream operations in the U.S. The initial ownership of the new venture will be 35 % Shell, 32.5 % Texaco and 32.5 % for the Saudi Aramco Saudi Refining Inc unit. The completion of this deal is the final piece in the jigsaw which saw the merger of Shell and Texaco's downstream units elsewhere in the U.S. The new company will continue to market gasoline under both the Texaco and Shell brands, the companies said.
The east and Gulf coast alliance brings 823,000 bpd of refining capacity to the overall venture and 14,717 retail outlets. The total combined capacity was 948,000 from the original West Coast alliance between Shell and Texaco plus 11,212 branded outlets.