Tesoro net down for
quarter, up for year

---

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 fourth-quarter profit of $4 million, or 10 cents a share, down from a net of $24.4 million, or 59 cents a share, in the final quarter of 2000.

But the company reported record full-year earnings and said the most recent quarter was affected by the weaker economy and adverse weather.

For all of 2001, Tesoro had a profit of $88 million, or $2.10 a share, up 20 percent from the year-earlier profit of $73.3 million, or $1.75 a share.

"Driven by improved industry fundamentals, our growth initiative and asset realignment, we reached the high end of our earnings target for 2001 and added another $0.14 per share from recently acquired operations," said Bruce A. Smith, chairman, president and CEO of Tesoro, which is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas.

Tesoro operates five refineries in the western United States with a combined capacity of 390,000 barrels per day. Tesoro's growing retail marketing system includes more than 600 branded retail stations, of which more than 200 are company owned and operated under the Tesoro and Mirastar brands.

The company entered the Hawaii market in March 1999 when it bought BHP Hawaii, including its Barbers Point refinery and the BHP Gas Express retail gasoline stations, for $325 million.

The gas stations now carry the Tesoro name.

In Hawaii, the refinery processed 84,800 barrels of oil a day in 2001, down 7.8 percent from 92,000 a day in 2000.