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Citgo Petroleum's earnings falls on weak refining margins

Venezuelaowned Citgo Petroleum joined other refiners in posting a sharp drop in thirdquarter profit on Thursday, weighed down by a fall in refining margins.

International oil refiners have actually seen their profit retreat this year from the post-pandemic peaks, mainly due to a need downturn, particularly in China.

In the United States, where demand has lagged expectations, the 3-2-1 crack spread << CL321-1= R>>, a market metric utilized to assess refiners' margins on both fuel and diesel put together, balanced $20.18 in the July-September duration, down nearly 35% from in 2015.

The seventh-largest U.S. refiner said its earnings was up to $ 66 million for the three months ended Sept. 30, compared with $ 567 million a year earlier.

Houston-based Citgo is the centerpiece in a U.S. District Court in Delaware's auction seeking to satisfy $21 billion in claims versus Venezuela for defaults and expropriations.

Recently, the United States extended a license safeguarding Citgo from shareholders to March 2025.

Citgo's overall throughput for the third quarter increased by 9,000 barrels each day for many years previously to 811,000 bpd.

After successfully finishing our planned turn-around activities this year, we had the ability to record offered margins in a tough pricing environment with strong reliability and higher throughput, said Citgo CEO Carlos Jorda.

The company stated its typical unrefined usage rate rose a little to 96% throughout the period.

Its total liquidity at the end of the quarter was $3.6. billion.

(source: Reuters)