CITGO's Quarterly Net Income at $205 million
HOUSTON -- Luis Marin, CITGO Petroleum Corp.'s president and CEO, announced third quarter net income of $205 million, almost double the 2003 third quarter net income of $103 million. For the nine months ended Sept. 30, net income was $430 million, up 22 percent from the same time period in 2003.
According to Marin, several factors contributed to CITGO's outstanding results for this quarter. Among them:
* With CITGO's refineries configured to process heavy crudes, the company took full advantage of the opportunity presented by the record low market price of heavy crude relative to light crude during the third quarter. The average utilization rate of CITGO's three fuels refineries averaged 97 percent for the quarter.
* As the price of heating oil relative to WTI crude exceeded the price of gasoline relative to WTI crude, distillate production in the third quarter increased by 18 percent over the same quarter last year.
* Asphalt sales volumes remained strong, up 27 percent from third quarter 2003 levels. For the first nine months of this year, asphalt sales volume increased 43 percent over the same time frame in 2003.
* Sales volumes for petrochemicals and industrial products increased 19 percent for the third quarter and 16 percent for the first nine months of 2004 relative to the same time periods in 2003.
* Lubricants and waxes sales volumes increased for both the third quarter and the first nine months of the year when compared with the same time periods in 2003.
"CITGO's operational performance in the third quarter as well as the first nine months of the year has been excellent," said Marin. "As a result, our profitability and available cash has improved significantly, allowing us to repay debt and improve our credit ratings. With these results, we expect that investor confidence in CITGO will continue to grow."
According to Marin, several factors contributed to CITGO's outstanding results for this quarter. Among them:
* With CITGO's refineries configured to process heavy crudes, the company took full advantage of the opportunity presented by the record low market price of heavy crude relative to light crude during the third quarter. The average utilization rate of CITGO's three fuels refineries averaged 97 percent for the quarter.
* As the price of heating oil relative to WTI crude exceeded the price of gasoline relative to WTI crude, distillate production in the third quarter increased by 18 percent over the same quarter last year.
* Asphalt sales volumes remained strong, up 27 percent from third quarter 2003 levels. For the first nine months of this year, asphalt sales volume increased 43 percent over the same time frame in 2003.
* Sales volumes for petrochemicals and industrial products increased 19 percent for the third quarter and 16 percent for the first nine months of 2004 relative to the same time periods in 2003.
* Lubricants and waxes sales volumes increased for both the third quarter and the first nine months of the year when compared with the same time periods in 2003.
"CITGO's operational performance in the third quarter as well as the first nine months of the year has been excellent," said Marin. "As a result, our profitability and available cash has improved significantly, allowing us to repay debt and improve our credit ratings. With these results, we expect that investor confidence in CITGO will continue to grow."