VENTURE CAPITAL POST

The United Steelworkers union and oil companies have reached a tentative deal to end the largest U.S. refinery strike in 35 years, the labor group and people familiar with the negotiations said on Thursday.

Lead U.S. oil company negotiator Shell Oil Co said face-to-face negotiations on Friday with the United Steelworkers union (USW) failed to yield an agreement to end the 20-day-old U.S. refinery strike.

An explosion and fire ripped through a gasoline processing unit at an Exxon Mobil Corp refinery near Los Angeles on Wednesday, leaving California with the threat of higher gasoline prices.

U.S. oil refinery managers are going to the mats, literally, during the biggest fight with union workers in 35 years, bedding down for a third strike week that experts and some employees say raises concerns over safety and operations.

Exxon Mobil Corp's (XOM.N) push to persuade workers at its Beaumont, Texas refinery to sign a five-year contract, nearly twice as long as the last one, is part of an effort to avert labor stoppages during a possible expansion that could make it the largest such plant in the United States, sources familiar with refinery operations said.

The United Steelworkers union said on Saturday the strike by U.S. refinery workers is expanding to two more plants early on Sunday due to unfair labor practices by oil companies.

Apollo and Cooper Tire decided on a tentative agreement with trial to begin on Tuesday.