Chemical seen buying Shell card portfolio.

NEW YORK -- Chemical Banking Corp. is expected to announce on Monday its acquisition of most of Shell Oil Co.'s private-label credit card portfolio.

Industry sources who have been following the negotiations said the announcement is set, but there has been no confirmation by the companies.

Shell would turn over four million of its 6.8 million accounts for screening, which could result in the issuance of 375,000 cobranded Visa or MasterCard cards, according to an estimate by The Nilson Report, an industry newsletter.

The Oxnard, Calif., publication ranks Shell as the second-largest gasoline marketer in the United States, with one of the highest percentages of total gasoline sales charged to credit cards.

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