Tosco Plans to Remove Talbot, SEC Filing Says

Matthew J. Talbot, president and chief executive of financially troubled Tosco Corp., is being forced out, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

In proxy material filed with the SEC, the company said it had “exercised its right to terminate” Talbot’s employment agreement as of Aug. 15.

However, Tosco stopped short of saying that Talbot is being fired. Instead, it said he will resign his posts but will continue to have an unspecified “relationship” with the company.

The SEC filing also said Talbot will receive a severance payment of about $325,000--the equivalent of one year’s salary.

The 48-year-old Talbot has held his current posts since 1984. Before that, he was an executive vice president of the company.

Since 1983, the company has posted losses of $677.8 million. In the first quarter of this year, it lost $100.8 million, including a $45-million writedown on the value of its oil and gas holdings.

Tosco has said it hopes to return to profitability in the second quarter because of improved profit margins, lower interest rates and continued cost reductions.