Oil Refineries Ltd., which owns Israel's largest oil refinery, located in Haifa, published its second quarter financials this morning. The company's results show considerable improvement over the results for the first quarter.
Oil Refineries refining margin rose 2.5 times, to $9.2 per barrel in the second quarter from $3.7 in the first. The average margin quoted by Reuters for Ural-type crude oil was $6.3 in the second quarter.
The company's revenue almost doubled in comparison with the corresponding quarter of 2007, to $2.471 billion. Net profit soared to $71.38 million, compared with $2 million in the first quarter, but was down 25% in comparison with the corresponding quarter of 2007.
Operating profit grew substantially between the first and second quarters, from $16 million to $95 million, but was down 31% in comparison with the corresponding quarter.
Oil Refineries CEO Yashar Ben Mordechai said, "In the first half of 2008 we were operating in a volatile and unpredictable market. Oil Refineries identified the trend of rising global diesel prices and acted accordingly. The construction of a hydrocracker as part of our strategic plan will raise our capacity usage and our refined product output (chiefly diesel fuel) from each barrel of oil."
After the end of the quarter, Oil Refineries bought 50% of Carmel Olefins from Petrochemichal Industries.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on August 18, 2008
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