Texaco's Profits Drop; ARCO's Surge

Texaco Inc., the nation's fourth largest oil company, reported that second quarter income dropped 13 percent as low refinery profits abroad were only partially offset by stronger crude oil prices. Texaco, which broke off merger discussions with Chevron Corp., slipped past analysts' expectations with second quarter income of $286 million before special items. In the same period last year, Texaco reported income before special items of $335 million. But Texaco's results were overshadowed by a strong showing from nation's fifth largest oil company, Atlantic Richfield Co. (ARCO), which is being acquired by oil giant BP Amoco Plc. Benefiting from a combination of stronger crude oil and California gasoline prices, ARCO said its second quarter income rose 37 percent from a year ago. Excluding special items, ARCO posted earnings of $302 million, compared to $220 million in the same quarter last year. ARCO's chairman and CEO Mike Bowlin said the company is $100 million ahead of schedule in a $500 million two-year cost-cutting program it announced last year. The company now expects to deliver the $500 million in savings by the end of 1999, a year early.