John O'Connor, chief executive of the Broken Hill Proprietary Co., told the Weekend Australian newspaper that it may have to sell its 95,000 barrel-a-day refinery at the Campbell Industrial Park if crude oil prices continue at their relatively high prices.

The BHP refinery is the largest in the state. Chevron Corp. owns the only other crude oil refinery in Hawaii.

A local spokeswoman for BHP had no immediate comment.

O'Connor told the newspaper that if its refinery was sold, it would result in a loss for Broken Hill. He said that returns from the refinery currently do not cover the cost of financing its acquisition of the plant.

Broken Hill acquired the refinery as part of its $400 million buyout of locally based Pacific Resource Inc. in 1989. Besides gasoline, the 24-year-old refinery produces jet fuel, diesel and other petroleum products. It employs about 200 workers.

The discussion comes as Broken Hill has sold off some of its noncore holdings during the past 18 months.

The company's recent asset sales have boosted its cash flow by $500 million, according to Bloomberg Business News.

In Hawaii, the company is attempting to sell off its Gasco subsidiary this year. Gasco is the state's largest gas utility and BHP's second largest Hawaii subsidiary with about 310 employees and 115,000 customers statewide. BHP said it plans to sell Gasco by May, which is the end of the company's fiscal year.

BHP also operates 30 gas retail outlets statewide.