Business Notes LITIGATION

The document had only six lines of print, but for Texaco its price may run into the billions. The Texas Supreme Court refused to review a $10.5 billion judgment against the third largest U.S. oil firm. Now Texaco's only avenue of escape is the U.S. Supreme Court.

Texaco has sought relief in the courts ever since a Texas jury ordered the company to pay the fine to Pennzoil in 1985. The jury held that Texaco had illegally enticed Getty Oil to break a merger agreement with Pennzoil. Last April, facing a deadline to post bond for the judgment, Texaco became the largest firm in U.S. history to file for bankruptcy protection. Texaco had offered Pennzoil some $2 billion as a settlement; Pennzoil demanded more than $4 billion. Pennzoil's price reportedly has now risen to $6 billion.