S-OIL announced on the 14th that the effects of refinery and petrochemical facilities secured through large-scale investments are appearing in earnest.
S-OIL recorded sales of 4.28 trillion won and operating profit of 93.1 billion won in the fourth quarter of last year, turning to the black compared to the previous quarter.
In the oil refining business, losses (89 billion won) were incurred, but the petrochemical (72.7 billion won) and lube base oil (110.1 billion won) businesses led the turnaround.
A company official said, “Amid the decline in global demand for petroleum products and a decline in refining margins, the strategy to maximize the production of profitable products such as petrochemical raw materials propylene oxide (PO), lubricant base oil, and low-sulfur marine oil (LSFO) was effective.” Evaluated.
PO is a raw material for polyurethane, which is widely used for interior materials for automobiles and home appliances, and the PO spread in the fourth quarter of last year rose about 85% from the previous quarter to record $1,98 per ton.
This is the highest level since December 2014.
PO profitability has continued from last year to this year, and the company expected it to contribute to future earnings improvement.
S-Oil’s new advanced facility (RUC&ODC), which produces high-value emulsified products such as PO, started operation at the end of 2018.
The resid refinement facility (RUC) produces gasoline, advanced gasoline additives (MTBE), propylene, ethylene, etc. using heavy residual oil, which is cheaper than crude oil, and the olefin downstream facility (ODC) is based on propylene and produces polypropylene ( It makes high-value petrochemical products such as PP) and propylene oxide (PO).
Although domestic refineries’ facility utilization rate in the fourth quarter is 80%, S-OIL announced that it has operated its crude oil refining facilities at a maximum of 100% based on the high profitability of PO and product sales channels secured through overseas networks.
A company official said, “As demand for petroleum products recovers due to the spread of the Corona 19 vaccine, refining margins will gradually improve,” he said. “We expect the company’s business performance to improve rapidly.”
S-OIL recorded an operating deficit of 1.87 trillion won, the largest since its inception, due to the impact of Corona 19 last year.
Although there were losses in both the first, second, and third quarters of last year, they succeeded in turning to the black in the fourth quarter.
/yunhap news