Thai Oil PCL, the country's top oil refiner, said on Tuesday its 2007 profit might be affected by a planned 2-month shutdown from the middle of October. "We are not confident our profit this year will be higher than last year because we will shut down our refinery and petrochemical plant for two months," managing director Viroj Mavichak told reporters.
First-quarter refining margins were expected to be higher than analyst forecasts of $6.82 per barrel, he added without saying what 2007 margins might be. Sixteen analysts polled by Reuters Estimates forecast an average 2007 net profit of 16.3 billion baht, down slightly from 16.6 billion baht in 2006.
The refiner shut down one unit for 24 days in October last year, cutting its production to 98 percent of nameplate capacity of 220,000 barrels per day from 105 percent in the same period a year earlier. Thai Oil planned to shut its 225,000-barrel-per-day refinery for major maintenance from the middle of October to help connect it to an extended 50,000-bpd crude distillation unit to boost its capacity to 275,000 bpd, Viroj said.
Thai Oil is building a third crude distillation unit with a capacity of 50,000 bpd. The company has said the shutdown, which will reduce its output by 100,000 bpd, would involve two crude distillation units and a hydro cracking unit.
The refiner, 49 percent owned by top energy firm PTT PCL, planned to spend $400 million this year on the capacity expansion and maintenance, Viroj said. On Tuesday, Thai Oil shares fell 1.61 percent to 61 baht, while the overall Thai stock market index rose 0.14 percent.