Net profit for Thai Oil’s base oil business dropped 59% to 329 million baht (U.S. $9.6 million) for the first quarter, compared with 797 million baht in the same period last year.

Lube base oil sales revenue rose 39% to 6.8 billion baht, up from 5 billion baht. The company attributed the increase mainly to higher selling prices tracking crude oil costs.

Thai Oil said in its earnings presentation that the price per metric ton for 500 solvent neutral and its spread over fuel oil prices decreased both sequentially, by $51, from 2021’s fourth quarter and year-on-year, by $66 compared to 2021’s first quarter. The sequential decrease in price spread was attributed to increases in production level of refineries in the region, along with the geopolitical tension between Russia and Ukraine further suppressing regional for base oil usage. The company attributed the year-on-year decrease in spread to an increase in base oil supply during this year’s first quarter and an increase in fuel oil price.

The company’s base oil plant in Sriracha, Thailand reported a capacity utilization rate of 89% during the first quarter, down from 93% in the same period last year. Base oil production volume for the quarter declined 3% to 59,000 metric tons in first quarter.

The plant has capacity to make 267,000 metric tons per year of API Group I base stocks. They are primarily used in industrial and marine lubricants and in engine oils for older engines.

Hi-Tech Lubricants

Hi-Tech Lubricants, based in Lahore, reported consolidated net profit of 209.1 million rupees (U.S. $1 million) for the quarter ending March 31 – the third quarter of its fiscal year, which ends on June 30. That was 3% higher than Rs 203.2 million in the same period last year.

Net sales for the quarter jumped 45% to Rs 3.8 billion. The blender’s other income dropped 34% to Rs 19.2 million for the quarter.

For the nine months ended March 31, Hi-Tech’s lubricants segment posted revenue of Rs 6.4 billion, 14% higher than Rs 5.8 billion in the same period a year earlier. In its director’s review outlook, the company said that Pakistan’s economic performance continues a trajectory compatible with an economic growth target of around 5% in the current fiscal year, ending in June.