Tesoro Petroleum profit
increases 14.9 percent

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By Russ Lynch
rlynch@starbulletin.com

Tesoro Petroleum Corp., a Texas-based company whose businesses include Hawaii's biggest oil refinery and 36 gasoline stations in the islands, today reported a third-quarter profit of $32.8 million, up 14.9 percent from profit of $22 million in the year-earlier period.

The latest results, equal to 79 cents a share compared to 60 cents in the year-earlier period, included income from businesses in Utah and North Dakota, acquired only last month. Those businesses together produced $13 million of Tesoro third-quarter refining and marketing operating profit of $87 million. The third-quarter results were also helped by record volumes at its refineries and lower costs for crude oil, the San Antonio-headquartered company said.

Its Honolulu refinery in the Campbell Industrial Park increased its throughput to 87,500 barrels a day in the latest quarter, up 10.5 percent from 79,200 in 2000 quarter.

Hawaii's refinery throughput accounted for 29.5 percent of Tesoro's total of 296,500 barrels a day in the 2001 quarter, which was a 15.6 percent increase from a year-earlier 256,400 barrels a day. Tesoro entered the Hawaii market in May 1998, when it purchased BHP Hawaii Inc.'s assets.