Caltex Australia May Have Net Loss on Oil Price Drop

By Angela Macdonald-Smith

Dec. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Caltex Australia Ltd., the nation’s biggest oil refiner, may record a full-year net loss because slumping crude oil prices have cut the value of its stockpiles.

The result may range between a loss of A$40 million ($28 million) to net income of A$10 million in the year ending Dec. 31, Sydney-based Caltex said today in a statement. The forecast compares with a Nov. 3 estimate for net income of as much as A$185 million and with last year’s profit of A$646 million.

Crude oil prices traded in New York have dropped by more than 70 percent from a record $147.27 a barrel on July 11 as weakening economic growth curbed fuel demand. Caltex’s net income takes into account the effect of changes in oil prices on the value of its inventories. The company raised its forecast for operating profit.

“Subsequent to 3 November, the crude-oil price has been extremely volatile, falling from an average of $80 per barrel in October to approximately $40 per barrel today,” Caltex said in the statement. The forecast range may be changed again should oil prices, foreign exchange rates and refining margins “materially” change by the end of the year, it said.

Caltex Australia, half-owned by Chevron Corp., fell as much as 2.4 percent to A$6.79 in Sydney at 10:03 a.m. local time.

Full-year operating profit is now expected to be between A$135 million and A$155 million, up from a Nov. 3 forecast of A$115 million to A$145 million, Caltex Australia said. That’s down from A$444 million last year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Angela Macdonald-Smith in Sydney at amacdonaldsm@bloomberg.net