U.S. problems boost income for Korea’s S-Oil Corp.

S-Oil Corp. said second-quarter operating profit rose 14 percent on increased returns from processing crude into fuels. Operating profit, or sales minus the cost of goods sold and administrative expenses, climbed to 325 billion won ($352 million) from 284.2 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a statement yesterday. Sales gained 1.7 percent to 3.6 trillion won. The company didn’t provide net income figures.
Fires and breakdowns at some U.S. refineries, as well as rising demand for gasoline and naphtha, boosted second-quarter refining profits to the highest since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita disrupted fuel supplies in the Gulf Coast in September 2005. That has filtered through to Asia as the U.S. increased gasoline imports.
“The price gap between heavy and light oils was good in the first half, including the second quarter, boosting our earnings,” said Lee Dong-hoon, a company spokesman.
S-Oil’s income before taxes increased 10 percent to 353.3 billion won, the company said. Bloomberg