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| “No plans to close Mongstad,” Statoil says |
| [30.07.2012, 02:35pm, Mon. GMT] |
Statoil is still going to struggle with profitability at its Mongstad refinery despite good results in the year’s second quarter, CEO Helge Lund says. But shutting the refinery is not on the agenda. Refining margins at Statoil’s refineries were significantly better in the second quarter, but CEO Helge Lund states he does not expect this to last. The company received some extra help from a significant improvement in margins for refining during this last period.
Margins in the second quarter were USD 6.1 per barrel, up from USD 2.2 dollars per barrel in the same three-month period last year.
“There are pretty good margins on the refining side for the second quarter, but we expect that they will fall the rest of the year,” says Helge Lund to Aftenbladet.
According to him, high gas sales have driven the rise at Mongstad.
“Profitability at our refineries is much better now that it has been. Nevertheless, we believe this is only temporary, he says.
There were speculations earlier this year that Statoil was planning to close the refinery at Mongstad. However, Mr Lund believes the facility still has a future.
“Shutting down the Mongstad refinery is not on our agenda. We are working hard with staff to ensure that it will be as robust as possible,” he says.
Last year, the refinery at Mongstad had an operating deficit of NOK 4.7 billion (about USD 773.8 million). NOK 3.1 billion (approximately USD 510.4 million) was due to an extraordinary write-down of the plant’s value.
(aftenbladet) |
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