SOHIO (Standard Oil Co. (Ohio)) permanently shelves Pactex Line project

Sohio has completely dropped its plans for a Long Beach, Calif., oil terminal and pipeline to move North Slope crude oil to Midwest refineries, although the firm may, according to Chairman A. Whitehouse, again examine the possibility of such a pipeline system if oil availability should increase on the west coast in the future. Sohio will probably get involved in one of four pipeline projects in various stages of planning, which include Northern Tier Pipeline Co.'s pipeline from Port Angeles, Wash., to Minnesota; Trans Mountain Pipe Line Co. Ltd.'s east-to-west pipeline; a project to move crude oil from Kitimat, B.C., to the Interprovincial line; and a line to move crude oil from Skagway, Alaska, to a Canadian connection. The economics on which Sohio based its Pactex line decision, particularly the expected decline of the west coast crude surplus as a result of expected declines in North Slope production and greater use by west coast refineries, are discussed.