Royal Dutch Shell announced Monday that it was selling its Los Angeles refinery and related assets to Tesoro Corporation. Tesoro will obtain control of Shell's Wilmington refinery, located south of Los Angeles, as well as 250 service stations in and around Los Angeles and San Diego. Tesoro chief executive Bruce Smith said the purchase price was $1.63 billion, plus the value of oil inventory. Smith said that the purchase will boost the company's earnings despite flatter gasoline margins. The sale comes as part of Shell's decision to reduce its exposure to the refining industry, as it also announced it was putting its three French refineries and a refinery in the Dominican Republic up for sale.
