By the OGJ Online Staff
HOUSTON, May 1 -- Citgo Petroleum Corp., Tulsa, has signed a licensing agreement for Unocal Corp.'s controversial reformulated gasoline patent.
Soon after the Tuesday announcement, Tesoro Corp. also revealed it signed a licensing agreement with Unocal.
Unocal spokesman Barry Lane declined to say whether Citgo's is the first licensing agreement signed since Unocal declared it would offer a uniform license to all refiners, blenders, and importers except those who unsuccessfully sued to declare the patent invalid (OGJ Online, Mar. 29, 2001).
Lane said only that it was the first licensing agreement the company has announced.
The company is in discussions with other parties regarding licensing agreements, he said.
The Citgo agreement covers a 307,325 b/d refinery in Lake Charles, La.; a 152,000 b/d refinery in Corpus Christi, Tex.; a 158,650 b/d refinery in Lemont, Ill.; and all gasoline Citgo may import.
The remaining terms of the licensing agreement are confidential, said a joint statement.
Citgo is an affiliate of Petroleos de Venezuela SA.
Tesoro owns three refineries in the western US, with combined capacity of 275,000 b/d.
