Tesoro CEO Working on Strategic Plan

SAN ANTONIO -- Tesoro Corp. CEO Greg Goff is moving forward with a plan to cut costs at the San Antonio-based refining and marketing company as he works toward presenting a strategic plan, the San Antonio- Express-News reported, citing a conference call Goff had with analysts last week.

Goff, a former ConocoPhillips executive who joined Tesoro in May, said during the call that he will present his plan to the company's board around the mid-fourth quarter.

Goff also reported during the call that the company continues to make repairs at its Anacortes, Wash., refinery, where an April 2 explosion killed seven employees. He said Tesoro expects to receive a preliminary report later this month from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board about the blast, which will help determine whether or not the plant can reopen in September.

"We are doing our own investigation, and when the time is right, we'll be able to talk about what happened there," Goff said. "It's not appropriate to talk at this time."

When asked about the company's retail operations and whether they would be expanded or would shrink, the chief executive said he would talk more about its convenience store and retail operations later in the year.

Tesoro has said going forward, it plans to reduce corporate expenses by $40 million to $50 million a year, and cut post-retirement benefit expenses by $80 million to $90 million.