Tesoro earnings continue to climb

Allen Baker

Tesoro Petroleum Corp. reported earnings of $32.8 million for the third quarter, as higher refinery spreads, record refining, and two new acquisitions fueled the gain. The figure is 31 percent above the same quarter last year and exceeds the $29.5million the company earned in the second quarter.

The improvement comes despite more than $5 million in special charges related to the purchase of two refineries from BP. And aside from the acquisitions, Tesoro made $69.8 million in capital expenditures, compared with just $19.2 million in the year-ago quarter.

“Operating profit for the refining and marketing segment was $87 million, an increase of 42 percent compared to last year's third quarter, and our newly acquired operations in Utah and North Dakota contributed approximately $13 million to operating profit for 25 days of operations,” said Bruce A. Smith, Tesoro’s chairman, president and CEO.

Aside from production from the new refineries, throughput increased by more than 11,000 barrels a day compared with the third quarter of 2000.

The Nikiski refinery processed 58,500 barrels daily, compared with 53,600 a year earlier. The facility averaged 45,000 barrels a day in the second quarter.

Refinery operations were more profitable, as product spread rose to $8.10 per barrel from $7.36 a year earlier, a 10 percent improvement.

Revenues for the San Antonio, Texas, company rose to $1.41 billion from $1.39 billion in the corresponding quarter.