Political Odd Couple Battles Big Oil

It doesn't happen every day. A Republican and conservative evangelist teaming up with one of the Senate's most liberal Democrats.

But on Thursday, Christian Coalition founder Pat Robertson came to Capitol Hill to meet with Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon and discuss complaints that major oil companies are blocking his attempt to open a small California refinery as a long range investment.

"I would be the first to say that this is not an alliance you see every day," said Wyden in an interview. But he said it shows that oil industry competition "isn't a partisan issue."

Robertson planned to upgrade the refinery to clean fuel standards and sell the gasoline to independent stations, reports CBS News Correspondent Wyatt Andrews. Robertson charges a big oil company he refused to name, has stalled the project by killing his bank loan.

"This bank was approached by a large multi billion dollar oil company who said if you finance the Cenco Powerine start up, we will withdraw our business from the bank," said Robertson.

If his information is accurate, why would big oil care? Sen. Wyden, who appeared with Robertson, says big oil is restricting all refinery output to keep gasoline prices high.

"Anti-competitive forces and not environmental protections are what stand in the way of this refinery."

Noting some internal oil industry documents Wyden recently made public, Robertson suggested that his troubles in trying to start up the Powerine Refinery near Santa Fe Springs, Calif., might give the senators additional fodder for their investigation.

At the same time, Robertson wrote that some of Wyden's findings might "provide the basis of a serious antitrust suit against the (oil industry) majors" by his refinery company.

Robertson's complaints are unlikely to get much response from the Bush administration.

Mr. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney frequently have cited the need for more refineries. But they also have dismissed suggestions of industry collusion or anticompetitive activities, citing two recent studies by the Federal Trade Commission.

Robertson's family trust purchased the closed Powerine Refinery in 1998 using money from the sale of some of his family's broadcasting interests. He said he's been seeking bank financing to reopen it ever since, renaming it Cenco Refining Co.

Last January, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Justice Department reached an agreement with Cenco to install "cutting edge air pollution controls, reducing emissions up to 85 percent," according to an EPA announcement. The agreement was designed to produce cleaner gasoline required by the California Air Resources Board.

In the interview, Robertson is confident he will get financing for the refinery.

"The economic climate (for energy companies) on Wall Street is better now," said Robertson. "If the majors won't oppose us, we'll have it financed and up and running."

Wyden said Robertson's experience shows that despite industry denials there are actions being taken, when there is a need for more refinery capacity, to keep independent refiners from operating.

"This is one of the cleanest refineries around and it's having difficulty getting into the business," said Wyden.

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