ENERGY

Unocal Sets Timetable on Refining Unit: Unocal Corp. hopes to sell its West Coast refining and marketing division, 76 Products Co., spin it off to shareholders or find a partner to help run it by the end of 1998. “We don’t know exactly what’s going to happen, but something will happen within the next two or three years,” Roger Beach, chief executive of the Los Angeles-based company, said. The move, which Unocal has discussed before, follows the company’s shifting focus away from the United States to what it sees as greener pastures in Southeast and Central Asia. Two weeks ago, Unocal signed a letter of intent on an earlier accord to sell its California oil and gas properties for more than $500 million.