Bangchak sets lower targets

Thai oil refiner Bangchak Petroleum forecast lower 2010 earnings and said it would spend 6 to 7.5 billion baht (US$180.51-225.63 million) over the next two years to boost efficiency and invest in ethanol. A drop in refining margins expected in 2010 would push earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) below the roughly 8 billion baht (US$240.67 million) targeted this year, President Anusorn Sangnimnuan told reporters. “The reason we expect lower EBITDA is largely because we see refining margins falling to US$4-5 a barrel,” Anusorn said. Its EBITDA for the first nine months of 2009 stood at 6.6 billion baht (US$198.56 million), and its refining margin, excluding the impact from oil inventories, was above US$8 a barrel, compared with the industry average of US$4-5 a barrel, he said. (November 29, 2009)