Gasoline prices in Maine rise 3.6 cents per gallon to $3.72

A price-monitoring website said average retail gasoline prices in Maine have risen 3.6 cents per gallon in the past week to $3.72.

MaineGasPrices.com said Sunday’s average price was $1.05 per gallon higher than it was the same day one year ago, but 7 cents per gallon lower than a month ago.

It also compares with the national average, which has increased 5.9 cents per gallon in the last week to $3.67 per gallon.

Analyst Patrick DeHaan said with major storms impeding the activity of refineries, the slow advance in gas prices shouldn’t come as a shock. 

Bank of America shaking up management as it struggles

Bank of America Corp. shook up its management ranks Tuesday, announcing that two key officers will leave and promoting two others to share the chief operating officer role.

It’s the latest effort by Brian Moynihan, the CEO since early 2010, to turn around a company that is struggling under the weight of toxic mortgage loans. He took over after Ken Lewis stepped down amid controversy over his purchase of Merrill Lynch.

Among the changes announced late Tuesday:

• Sallie Krawcheck, head of global wealth and investment management, is leaving. A Citigroup veteran, she was hired in late 2009.

• Joe Price, president of the consumer bank, will also leave. He was the chief financial officer under Lewis. Moynihan moved him to run the retail bank, Moynihan’s old job, in 2010, and Moynihan at the time described it as a promotion.

• David Darnell, a Bank of America veteran, will become co-chief operating officer. He will share the newly created position with Tom Montag, who joined Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America when it bought his employer, Merrill Lynch, in 2009. 

International Paper buying smaller rival for $3.7 billion

International Paper Co. is buying smaller rival Temple-Inland Inc. for $3.7 billion after sweetening its bid.

The transaction will give the combined company about 40 percent of the corrugated packaging materials market in North America. IP is the largest producer of corrugated packaging in North America, while Temple-Inland is the third-largest.

IP raised its bid to $32 per share for Temple-Inland, a 30 percent premium to its Friday closing price. This is higher than its bid of $30.60 per share in June, which its Austin, Texas, target had rejected as too low.

Memphis, Tenn.-based IP will also assume $600 million in debt.

If shareholders and regulators approve, the transaction is expected to close in 2012’s first quarter. 

PepsiCo, NFL renewing deal worth $1 billion over decade

PepsiCo Inc. and the NFL said Tuesday that they are renewing their marketing agreement with a new 10-year deal that begins next year.

The financial terms of the contract weren’t disclosed. But a person close to the matter who asked not to be named because the person wasn’t permitted to speak publicly said that PepsiCo would pay roughly $90 million a year in rights fees.

That’s nearly $1 billion over the length of the contract to make its Pepsi, Gatorade, Frito-Lay, Tropicana and Quaker Oats brands official marketing partners of the league.

PepsiCo would then spend more on promoting its ties to the NFL. The Purchase, N.Y., company said it does not disclose its marketing spending. But the Wall Street Journal, citing an unnamed source, said that spending could run roughly $1.3 billion more during the length of the contract. 

Sunoco will stop refining oil and focus on pipelines, retail

Sunoco Inc. said Tuesday it’s getting out of the refining business.

The Philadelphia company, which owns two refineries in Pennsylvania, announced plans to sell those refineries and focus on its pipelines and retail gas stations that provide a steadier cash flow.

Sunoco’s refineries in Philadelphia and Marcus Hook, Pa., can process a combined 505,000 barrels of oil per day. If it cannot sell its refineries, the company will shut down its main processing units in July 2012.