Supreme Court throws out lawsuit over gas prices

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday threw out a lawsuit that accused two oil companies of inflating gas prices by at least $1 billion.

Justices unanimously said gas distributors did not prove that ChevronTexaco Corp. and Shell Oil Co. violated antitrust laws in the joint venture, which ended four years ago.

Justice Clarence Thomas, writing for the court, said the companies had a legal partnership. "The pricing decisions of a legitimate joint venture do not fall within the narrow category of activity that is per se unlawful" under federal law, Thomas said.

At the time of the deal in 1998, ChevronTexaco was still Texaco. The company joined with Shell to form enterprises to handle refining and marketing of their gasoline.

Gas distributors filed a class-action lawsuit in California, alleging that Texaco and Shell had used the partnership to fix gas prices in violation of antitrust provisions of the Sherman Act.

A ruling in favor of the gas distributors would have had broad implications for business mergers beyond the oil industry.