MOSOCW (MRC) - U.S. refiner Phillips 66 PSX.N reported a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss on Friday, as its marketing and specialties unit, which retails refined products, benefited from people returning to gas stations, said Reuters.
The unit buys refined products wholesale to resell at over 9,100 outlets the company operates through a joint venture, and has seen demand recover as coronavirus-related lockdowns ease and travel gradually picks up.
On a sequential basis, marketing fuel margins improved 27.4% in the third quarter to USD2.23 per barrel in the United States and up 24% to USD6.28 per barrel internationally.
However, realized refining margins slumped to USD1.78 per barrel, a 31.5% drop from the second quarter and 84% lower than last year, hit by weak fuel demand though oil prices have ticked up from spring lows.
Adjusted loss for the refining segment came at USD970 million, wider than USD867 million posted in the second-quarter.
Results in the third quarter were also hit by impairment charges of USD798 million related to the planned conversion of a San Francisco refinery into a renewable fuels plan.
The company had said in August it will reconfigure the refinery in Rodeo to produce renewable fuels, which are made from used cooking oil and fats, among others, and have seen an increased demand in recent months as they burn cleaner than traditional diesel.
The Houston, Texas-based company reported a net loss of USD799 million, or USD1.82 per share, for the quarter ended Sept. 30, from a year-ago profit of USD712 million, or USD1.58 per share.
As MRC informed earlier, Phillips 66 shut down its Belle Chasse refinery on 16 September in anticipation of Hurricane Sally. No estimate was provided for the duration of the shutdown. This site houses a plant with a capacity of 355,000/tonnes propylene per year.
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 880,130 tonnes in the first nine months of 2020 (calculated using the formula: production minus exports plus imports, excluding producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply increased exclusively of PP random copolymer.
Phillips 66 was formed in May 2012 as a result of the division of ConocoPhillips, taking over the company's refining assets. The staff of the company consisted of about 14 thousand employees. The company is headquartered in Houston.
MRC