3 Firms Limit Gas to Independent Distributors : Energy: Arco, Texaco and Chevron say they are ensuring supply for their own stations. Critics say they are stockpiling to push up prices.

In a move that independent gasoline distributors say could boost gasoline prices further, at least three major oil companies have restricted gasoline sales to the firms.

Atlantic Richfield, Texaco and Chevron have limited sales to the distributors, the middle men who in turn sell to independent service stations. The restrictions have sent the distributors scrambling for alternate gasoline sources and prompted further criticism of an industry facing widening charges of price gouging.

“It’s a reminder that we’re held hostage by the industry and they’ll use any excuses to raise prices,” said Lee Ross, president of the California Independent Oil Marketers Assn. “To me, this is strictly a price move that is motivated by exploitation.”

Other critics contend that the restrictions are a way that oil companies are trying to stockpile reserves in anticipation of higher oil prices.

“Everybody is trying to hold onto supply because it might be worth more tomorrow,” said consumer advocate Ed Rothschild with Citizen Action in Washington. “They’re acting as if there’s going to be a shortage and are creating one.”

Gordon Wallace, owner of South Bay Petroleum Co., said Arco cut his allocation by 250,000 gallons a month, a reduction of 30%. The move is forcing him to find new suppliers in a frenzied market.

“It’s an unfair cost and expense to these independent business people,” he said.

Arco, the leading gasoline retailer on the West Coast, said it restricted sales to independent wholesalers last week to ensure adequate reserves for its company stations.

“These people have the capability of taking all of our product if we let them,” said George Babikian, president of Arco Products Co., Atlantic Richfield’s refining and marketing division.

Referring to similar restrictions after the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska, Fereidun Fesharaki, an oil market expert at the government-funded East-West Center in Honolulu, said other companies likely will follow with restrictions similar to those by Arco, Texaco and Chevron.

“Arco usually is the leader in this kind of activity,” he said. “I’d be surprised if other companies didn’t follow.”

The restrictions allow oil companies to hedge against uncertainties, Fesharaki said.

“If you can reduce the commitment at present, you are more flexible as a business,” he said.

Independent wholesalers supply about 20% of all fuel sold in the United States, according to the Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers of America.

Arco said it funnels about 18% of its business through independent distributors.