Mobil, Amoco Reportedly Mulling Link

Mobil Corp. and Amoco Oil Co. are discussing a possible merger of their refining and other so-called downstream operations to boost sagging earnings in those areas, Britain’s Sunday Telegraph newspaper reported. A spokesman for Chicago-based Amoco, Jim Fair, told The Times on Sunday that he could neither confirm nor deny the report, but added that “clearly everybody in the industry is looking at various opportunities” to bolster their refining operations. Executives of Fairfax, Va.-based Mobil could not be immediately reached.(Times staff and wire reports)