SAN ANTONIO -- Tesoro Corp. has reported net earnings of $326 million, or $4.66 per share, for second-quarter 2006, compared to net earnings of $184 million, or $2.62 per share, for second-quarter 2005.
Bruce A. Smith, chairman, president and CEO of Tesoro, said, The optimal mix of crude sources, product markets, production and logistics management led to our record results. Refining margins in the western United States were robust this quarter, highlighting the market fundamentals of tight gasoline supplies and greater national demand for high-octane [image-nocss] gasoline blending components. We expect these fundamentals to continue to drive a strong margin environment, especially on the West Coast.
For the first half of 2006, the company reported net earnings of $369 million, or $5.25 per share, compared to $212 million, or $3.02 per share, for the first six months of 2005.
Refining operating income for the second quarter was more than 50% higher or $212 million more than 2005 with significant gains from the Northwest and California regions driven by record second quarter throughput and high clean product yields.
The margin environment in the second quarter was very, very strong and we expect the fundamentals to continue to be good for the remainder of the year. The key to our performance will be to continue to have each and every employee focus on safety and operational excellence. That will enable us to run our refineries at the optimal level and capture these strong margins, said Smith.
Tesoro Corp. is an independent refiner and marketer of petroleum products. It operates six refineries in the western United States with a combined capacity of approximately 560,000 barrels per day. Tesoro's retail-marketing system includes approximately 465 branded retail stations, of which more than 200 are company owned and operated under the Tesoro and Mirastar brands.Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.