Oil companies still tallying destruction tab; Arco takes biggest hit as 150 gas stations are damaged.

Oil companies and their gas-station dealers were sifting through the rubble last week and trying to put dollar figures to the riot-inflicted damages.

While none of the seven major oil companies had yet tallied the destruction's cost, six collectively reported damages at 150 gas stations in Los Angeles and other cities where violence flared up. As of press-time last Thursday, Mobil Oil Corp. officials still hadn't totaled the number of their stations damaged.

Los Angeles-based Atlantic Richfield Co. seems to have been hit hardest. Of its 50 Arco stations damaged, 46 were in Los Angeles, three in Las Vegas and one in Oakland, said Arco spokeswoman Annie Reudiger.

"Twelve of those damaged were burned so badly that they will have to be rebuilt from the ground up," she said. "The five that were owned by Arco will be rebuilt immediately. We will also help the Arco dealers (who operate the rest of the Arco stations) who suffered losses apply for loans to rebuild."

One week after the riots, 28 Arco stations that were closed because of broken glass or looting had re-opened. Still closed were 10 dealer-owned stations, seven that were burned and the three that were severely damaged. Those dealers must decide if they will re-open, Reudiger said.

Aside from tallying physical damage, oil companies and dealers were counting how much money they were losing in sales. For openers, closed gas stations are not pumping the 100,000 to 200,000 gallons per month they normally would, or doing customary auto repair and service work, oil industry officials said. In addition, shut dealers with mini-marts also are losing consumer-item sales.

Officials at Houston-based Shell Oil Co. USA said 47 of their 500 Shell stations in the Los Angeles area were hit. Spokesman Tom Wickiser said at least nine of the stations had major damage and would have to be almost completely rebuilt.

Half the Shell stations damaged and closed during the riots already have reopened. Shell USA officials still are touring Los Angeles to assess the total impact, Wickiser said.

"It generally costs $500,000 to $1 million to build one of the large self-service stations that has the convenience store surrounding the cashier," he said. "Once all the rubble is cleared and the proper permits are issued, it takes a construction company 90 to 120 days to build a new station."

Wickiser said all Shell stations were insured but he didn't know how many policies had clauses excluding damage suffered during riots or wars. Even so, rebuilding its Los Angeles stations will slow Shell's companywide modernization campaign.

Meanwhile, customers reported some undamaged gas stations in the riot areas hiked prices by upwards of 20 cents per gallon in the aftermath.

Wickiser said since all Shell stations are independently operated, Shell has no control over retail pricing. "But Shell didn't increase its price to any of our dealers during the riots," he said.

Los Angeles-based Unocal also suffered heavy losses. Appraisers were still working to determine the total tab, but spokesman Barry Lane said 21 stations in the L.A. area were damaged -- three completely burned and 18 reporting broken glass, looting and cut fuel pump hoses. Five of the damaged stations were scheduled to reopen by May 8, he said.

San Francisco-based Chevron USA Inc. has 21 service stations in the riot-hit areas but only nine were struck. Two were destroyed by fire and seven had varying degrees of damage, said Rod Spackman, a Chevron spokesman in Los Angeles.

Irving, Texas-based Exxon Corp. reported two stations destroyed by fire and six vandalized. El Segundo-based spokeswoman Connie Clan said company officials still were toting up losses and repair costs.

Texaco came through the civil unrest with only minor scratches. A spokesman at Texaco's Universal City office, Greg Hardy, said windows were broken at two stations and one was looted and then burned.

"We are still deciding if we will rebuild that station," Hardy said.

Officials of Fairfax, Va.-based Mobil Oil Corp. still hadn't tallied their damage. Jim Carbonetti, spokesman at Mobil's West Coast headquarters in Burbank, said some Mobil stations that were burned or damaged won't be re-opened. Many badly damaged stations have been forced to close and it was unknown when they would reopen, he said.