Conoco

A terrorist slams a front-end loader into an oil tank at the ConocoPhillips refinery in Trainer, Delaware County. Crude pours over a dike and floods the Marcus Hook Creek. Soon, a metastasizing, 10,000-barrel spill shuts down the Delaware River. Now what? Luckily, the scenario was fiction, but the reaction was the real deal. Led by the local U.S. Coast Guard unit, more than 300 emergency responders began a two-day exercise yesterday to simulate an oil spill caused by a terrorist attack.

DuPont Co. announced yesterday that it will spin off its oil subsidiary, Conoco Inc. It will start by selling up to 20 percent of the company in what will be one of the largest initial public offerings in history. Company officials said the move was part of "an aggressive growth plan" in which the Wilmington company will put even more emphasis on agricultural biotechnology and pharmaceutical products. Analysts said the sale could bring DuPont $3 billion to $5 billion, valuing Conoco at between $15 billion and $30 billion.

Du Pont Co. announced a reorganization of its top management after a meeting of the board of directors in Wilmington yesterday. Ralph E. Bailey, vice chairman of Du Pont and chairman of its Conoco energy subsidiary, said he intends to retire on March 31. The decision by Bailey, 62, touched off several key moves. The board elected Edgar S. Woolard, 52, president and chief operating officer of Du Pont. The board also abolished the position of vice chairman, which had been held jointly by Woolard and Bailey.

Exelon's Eddystone Generating Station was destined to become one more weedy waterfront site after the region's last coal-fired power plant shut down in May. That was before Jack Galloway, a man on a mission, helped form the Eddystone Rail Co. The rail venture, announced Nov. 26, has ambitions far larger than the few miles of track that encircle the plant in Delaware County. The project's aim is to bring North Dakota crude oil by rail to Eddystone, where it will be transferred to barges and transported to refineries along the Delaware or in New York harbor.

Labor leaders on Thursday called for congressional and state representatives to conduct hearings on plans by Sunoco Inc. and ConocoPhillips Co. to shut down or sell three Philadelphia refineries, but offered few suggestions on what government can do to keep the plants open. At a news conference in Washington, leaders of three United Steelworkers locals that represent about 1,300 workers at the refineries decried the economic effects of shutting down the refineries. Sunoco and Conoco Phillips say they want to stop refining fuel in the area because it is unprofitable.

Sen. Bob Casey Jr. (D., Pa.) and the Delaware County Council on Wednesday urged ConocoPhillips to sell its refinery in Trainer to a buyer that would keep the refinery operating as a manufacturing facility rather than as a fuel storage terminal. Prompted by rumors that potential buyers of the ConocoPhillips refinery in Trainer plan to shut down the plant, the elected leaders wrote Wednesday to ConoccoPhillips chief executive James Mulva to urge him to sell the plant to buyer that would operate it as a refinery, which would employ more people and require more investment than a fuel-storage facility.

IN BUSINESS A13 A long time coming Sunoco saw itself as in need of a change. That strategy led to its pending sale. Delco's good news Delta Air Lines, hoping to secure a steady source of discounted jet fuel, will buy ConocoPhillips oil refinery in Trainer.

Shares of Delta Air Lines rose 5 percent after the carrier said Monday that it expected a second-quarter profit of $75 million to $100 million at its oil refinery in Trainer. Delta also said the current quarter would be the airline's first profitable March quarter since 2000. "Running an oil refinery, much like running an airline, is not for the faint of heart," Delta president Edward Bastian told a JPMorgan conference. He said operational issues kept the refinery at 75 percent capacity in January and February.

Rick Brunson scored a game-high 22 points and the Temple Owls went on a furious 17-0 run late in the second half in a 76-54 win over Conoco Oil in an exhibition game at McGonigle Hall last night. The Owls struggled from the field, shooting 35.9 percent in the second half. But they overcame their horrid shooting with a stifling defense during the run and held Conoco scoreless for 6 minutes, 31 seconds. Forward Derrick Battie scored 15 points (nine boards), while sophomore Huey Futch, in his first game in two years, scored 10 points off the bench.

Phillips 66 Co. has agreed to pay a $50,000 penalty to settle alleged violations of hazardous waste regulations at its former refinery in Trainer, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Tuesday. EPA cited Phillips 66 for violations involving the storage of hazardous materials including refinery hydrocarbon waste, chromium waste, heavy metal waste from batteries and mercury waste from fluorescent bulbs. Phillips 66 Co. is the successor to ConocoPhillips Corp., which owned the refinery until it was sold last year to Monroe Energy, a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines.