Occidental Petroleum Co. of Los Angeles was...

Occidental Petroleum Co. of Los Angeles was ordered to sell Tenneco Polymers Inc. after an administrative law judge ruled that the 1986 acquisition of the firm reduced competition in the production of materials needed to make plastics. Judge Thomas F. Howder’s ruling upheld a 1986 complaint by the Federal Trade Commission, which had challenged Occidental’s $70-million takeover of the company. The acquisition substantially reduced competition in the production of three types of polyvinyl chloride resin, Howder concluded.