Petrotrin suffers $ 406 mm loss

Trinidad & Tobago’s state-owned Petrotrin has reported a net loss of $ 406 mm for the six months ended March 31, 2009, compared to 1 bn in profits made during the same period a year ago.
The company also suffered a 2.6 % decrease in total crude and gas production and throughput averaged 149.1 mm bpd, a slight reduction of 1.9 % over the same period in 2008.

In its unaudited financial statements, Petrotrin attributed the financial loss to the significant price drop in crude oil, refined products and natural gas brought on by the global recession. Cash from operating activities provided about $ 1.3 bn at March 2009.
Nymex WTI crude oil averaged $ 50.92 per barrel as at March 2009 compared to $ 94.23 in March 2008, said the company and pointed out that refinery margin and natural gas prices averaged $ 7.45 per barrel and $ 5.94 per mm cf (mm Btu) compared to $ 6.61 per barrel and $ 7.50 per mm Btu in 2008 respectively.

To buffer the loss, Petrotrin said it has accelerated its cost control initiatives and has been able to achieve reductions in its operating expenses throughout the company.
"Our financial ratios continue to be in compliance with loan covenants, with our current ratio and total debt to equity being 1.93 and 0.64, respectively," said executive chairman Malcolm Jones.

With its upstream and downstream businesses under stress, Petrotrin said the focus is now on completing key capital projects that offer growth potential and increased cash flows: the Gasoline Optimisation Project (GOP) and its Ultra Low Sulphur Diesel (ULSD) plant.
In August 2009, the company raised $ 850 mm on the international market to complete its clean fuels projects. But subsequent to its March audit review, Standard and Poor's and Moody's Investor Service downgraded Petrotrin's foreign currency issuer rating to Baa3 and BBB with a stable outlook from Baa2 and BBB+, respectively. On this, Petrotrin's said the change in its baseline credit assessment reflects its high capital spending levels and a weak commodity price environment.