NZ Refining Company reports near double jump in profit

New Zealand Refining Co said yesterday that its average profit from processing crude oil in the first two months of the year rose 86 per cent from a year earlier.

The average gross refining margin, or profit from refining a barrel of crude oil, was $10.53 in January and February, compared with $5.65 for the same time in 2003.

It was $6.72 in November and December, the Ruakaka-based company said.

Throughput for the period was 6.52 million barrels, up from 6.47 million barrels in 2003, and the final fee was $43.7 million, up from $29.1 million.

The refinery at Marsden Pt, near Whangarei, produces about two-thirds of the nation's petrol and 90 per cent of its diesel.

The New Zealand dollar hit a seven-year high of around 71USc in mid-February, and was 21 per cent higher at the end of the period than a year earlier.

NZ Refining shares, majority owned by oil companies BP, Mobil Oil NZ, Caltex NZ and Shell NZ, last traded up 16c at $17.16, compared with a year high of $17.33 and a low of $15.10.

About 27 per cent of its shares are publicly traded.

- AGENCIES