Atlantic Richfield announced an effective 30% increase...

Atlantic Richfield announced an effective 30% increase in its capital spending this year over last. Arco also said its acquisitions of a British oil and gas firm and Tenneco’s western U.S. reserves enabled it to replace 153% of the oil and gas it produced last year, far above the industry average. Without the acquisitions, Arco said it replaced 94% of the reserves it produced last year, also better than average. Arco said it will spend $2.6 billion this year, including a 36% rise to $1.5 billion on oil exploration and production. It will spend an additional $240 million to expand its am/pm minimarket network and upgrade refineries.