Unocal vows not to disrupt cleaner gas debut; war over patent for formula may surface later.

Unocal Corp. Chief Executive Officer Roger Beach has assured Gov. Pete Wilson that the oil company will not use its patent on the state-mandated gasoline to "disrupt" the initial distribution of a cleaner-burning gas next year.

Beach met with Wilson in Sacramento in early March to discuss Unocal's patent on the formulation for the gasoline that all gas stations in California must sell beginning June 1996, said Barry Lane, Unocal spokesman.

All the major oil companies have been working on developing the gasoline at their refineries, but Los Angeles-based Unocal is the only one which applied for and received a patent for the gasoline.

Unocal intends to charge other oil companies a fee if they wish to sell gasoline after 1996, Lane said. "We believe that almost any gasoline that would be practical to make and meet the state requirements would fall under the scope of our patent," Lane said.

No injunction - for now

In his meeting with Wilson, Beach assured Wilson that "We're not going to file a preliminary injunction to stop people from manufacturing it . . . not initially," Lane related.

When asked if Unocal plans to file for a preliminary injunction after the gasoline had been on the market for a period time, Lane said, "We have to keep our options open.

"We have a patent and if they violate our patent, we would have the right to collect royalties on it," he said.

Lane said Unocal requested the meeting with Wilson. "We wanted to explain to the governor that what we were doing would not harm the state of California," he added.

Beach also met with members of the California Air Resources Board to assure them that Unocal's patent would not disrupt the distribution of cleaner-burning gasoline.

Standard mandated

CARB voted in 1991 to order all gasoline marketers in the state to sell the state-mandated gasoline beginning June 1, 1996. The new gasoline is estimated to reduce pollutants from tailpipes by about 30 percent.

Lane told the Business Journal earlier this year that Unocal applied for the patent in December, 1990 - 10 months before CARB issued its plan for reformulated gas. Lane noted that it shared its "viewpoint" of what the gas should contain to CARB before the air agency voted to mandate the gas.

But Jerry Martin, CARB spokesman, said that a lot of oil companies also submitted their opinions on the gasoline composition. Martin did not know if the state's prescription was based on any one company's suggestions.

A CARB spokesman said the agency is reviewing Unocal's patent and trying to determine its significance.

Unocal shocked the oil industry when it announced in late January that it intends to charge other companies to pump the state-mandated gasoline.

Unocal expects other companies to pay it a royalty based on volume of gasoline sold, he said. The exact terms will be announced in late April or early May, Lane said.

Lane said Unocal has not sued any oil companies over the patent. "We may get sued by them," he said.