Amoco, BP merger approved

The Federal Trade Commission conditionally paved the way for British Petroleum Co. and Amoco Corp to join forces in a $49 billion merger that would spawn the world_s third-largest oil company, with daily production of about 3 million barrels. In a statement Wednesday, the FTC said the oil giants had agreed to a regulatory settlement under which the companies will spin off 134 gasoline stations and nine petroleum terminals, and give 1,600 independent gas stations the option of switching brands. The new BP/Amoco (AN) entity would rank third in size among the world_s oil monoliths, behind the proposed Exxon Corp. (XON)-Mobil Corp. (MOB) giant and Royal Dutch/Shell Group. But the combination will offer up some world-beating credentials in its own right: the marriage between BP-Amoco will form an energy conglomerate with a market capitalization of $140 billion. The new company, to be called BP Amoco Plc, will also be Britain_s largest corporation. The combined unit will boast oil and gas equivalent reserves of nearly 15 billion barrels. The companies have set a tentative target of at least $2 billion in annual pre-tax earnings by the end of 2000.