The oil price has boosted Petrom's profit in Q3

Although higher oil prices on foreign markets caused a drop in financial results for most oil companies in the region, these constituted the main growth engine for Petrom.

"Results obtained in the third quarter are considerably better than those registered in the second quarter, due to the record oil price," according to a statement made yesterday by Mariana Gheorghe, the company's CEO.

Petrom’s net profit dropped by 22 percent year-on-year in this year's first nine months, down to RON 1.5 billion (€454 million), while the company's turnover fell 10 percent, to RON 8.6 bln (€2.6 bln).

"The characteristics of the environment in which we operate have negatively influenced our nine-month results, compared to last year's same period. However, results meet the company's forecast for this year," said Mariana Gheorghe.

Petrom's turnover dropped in this year's first nine months mainly due to lower selling prices and lesser quantities sold in the refining and marketing activity, caused by Arpechim's revision, according to the financial report made available yesterday. The situation was partially compensated by higher revenue generated by the gas activity.

Arpechim Pitesti, one of Petrom's two refineries, was closed down this year for about six weeks, for revision and the solving of problems relating to environmental investments. This affected the entire refining activity, according to financial data, as the quantity of refined oil was 4.5 mln tons in the first nine months, some 13 percent lower than the January-September 2006 level.

The drop in production also influenced Petrom's contribution to the OMV group operating profit, which plunged 19 percent, to €506 mln, due to the depreciation of the dollar. The Austrian oil and natural gas group registered €1.69 bln in operating profit in the first nine months of 2007, up 2 percent year-on-year.

Petrom is not the only operator posting negative results in the January-September period. Major oil companies in Central and Eastern Europe announced significant drops in profit, as a result of the boom in the oil price on foreign markets. Rompetrol Rafinare, the second-largest player on this market, registered a 5 percent drop in business in this year's first three quarters, down to €1.1 bln, and some €19 mln worth of loss, increasing by more than 53 percent from the same period of 2006.