DOWNSTREAM OIL ALSO HAD ITS SHARE OF SIGNIFICANT MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS

While the pace of upstream mergers and acquisitions (M&A) remained feverish in 2001, several significant transactions also changed refining and marketing's landscape during the year. The question of what would happen to Texaco Inc.'s interest in its two domestic downstream joint ventures as

Phillips Petroleum Co. (NYSE: P) got 2001's domestic downstream M&A activity off to an impressive start with its $7 billion agreement to buy Tosco Corp. in early February. The market perceived it as a 180-degree turn in strategy for the Bartlesville, Okla., domestic major oil company, which had moved boldly upstream the previous June when it bought Atlantic Richfield Co.'s Alaska properties from B.P. Plc. (NYSE: BP). Phillips insisted that the acquisition turned it into a truly integrated oil company with downstream holdings to match its strong exploration and production assets.