US refiner Citgo posted an increase in third quarter profits as its three refineries increased average utilization to 95pc of capacity from 89pc a year ago.
The refiner, owned by Venezuelan parent company PdV Holdings, reported profit of $567mn, up from $477mn in the third quarter of 2022.
"Strong reliability in a favorable margin environment allowed us to build liquidity, fund capital expenditures and turnarounds," chief executive Carlos Jordá said.
Total throughputs for the third quarter came in at 802,000 b/d, of which crude runs accounted for 765,000 b/d. That marked the fourth straight quarter in which crude runs were over 760,000 b/d.
Despite turnaround work in September and an unplanned unit outage in August, the 455,000 b/d Lake Charles Refinery achieved a crude capacity utilization rate of 95pc in the third quarter. The 182,700 b/d Lemont, Illinois, refinery reached a crude capacity utilization rate of 96pc, with both planned and unplanned outages, and set a new distillate processing record in August. And the 167,500 b/d Corpus Christi refinery had several unplanned events, resulting in a crude capacity utilization rate of 92pc in the quarter.
Citgo, with about 805,000 b/d of capacity at its US refineries, has been run by a board appointed by the Venezuelan opposition since January 2019.
A US federal court in Delaware has ordered Citgo to be sold to satisfy over $20bn in unpaid debt by state-owned PdV and Venezuela, including to ConocoPhillips, which has registered three claims totaling $10.5bn.
