By Gavin Evans
Oct. 24 (Bloomberg) -- New Zealand Refining Co., operator of the country's only oil refinery, said its profit from turning crude oil into fuels plunged 57 percent in July and August as international processing margins dropped.
The average refining margin dropped to $7.42 a barrel during the period, from $17.16 in May and June and $11.43 a year earlier, New Zealand Refining said in a statement to the New Zealand stock exchange today.
The Ruakaka-based company is controlled by the local units of Chevron Corp., Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Exxon Mobil Corp. and BP Plc. It charges the four oil companies a fee based on Singapore refining margins to process their crude at the Marsden Point refinery in the north of the country's North Island.
That agreement caps average refining fees at $9 a barrel over 12 months. Higher margins in the first half enabled the company to accumulate $89.1 million of uncharged fees. It will be able to recover some of that in the rest of the year should margins remain below $9, the refiner said.
Customers were charged $9 a barrel in July and August, utilizing $9.9 million of those funds, the refinery said.
Production slipped to 6.3 million barrels during the period, from 6.5 million during the previous two months, and 6 million barrels a year earlier.
To contact the reporter on this story: Gavin Evans in Wellington at gavinevans@bloomberg.net
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment