Based in Norwell, Massachusetts, Clean Harbors said its Safety-Kleen segment – which includes oil rerefining, waste oil collection and finished lubricants – recorded third-party revenues of $238.4 million for the fourth quarter, a 12% increase from $213.3 million in the same period in 2021. The segment’s third-party revenues for the full year jumped 31% to $1 billion, compared to $779.4 million in 2021.

Sequentially, business for the segment slowed from a strong third quarter, the company noted.

“We experienced a seasonal slowdown in base oil demand in the fourth quarter after a record-breaking third quarter,” Chairman, President and CEO Alan S. McKim said in Clean Harbors’ earnings press release. “While our rerefinery spread remained wide, we sold lower volumes of both base oil and blended products as customers depleted their inventories to close out the year. Segment profitability was affected by overall revenue mix and severe weather at multiple locations, which impacted production and resulted in higher costs.”

Heritage-Crystal Clean

Heritage-Crystal Clean’s oil business segment reported $75.3 million in revenue for the fourth quarter, a 14% increase from $65.8 million in the same period in 2021.

For the full year, the segment posted $260.3 million in revenue, a 32% jump from $197.2 million.

The Elgin, Illinois-based company cited an increase in its base oil netback as the main driver of the increase in revenue.

“Despite the significant decline in base oil netback compared to the third quarter, base oil netback during the fourth quarter remained above our netback for the fourth quarter of 2021,” President and CEO Brian Recatto said in the company’s earnings press release. “The higher netback allowed us to increase our spread on a year-over-year basis and generate better than expected operating margin during the quarter.”

The company further explained that its oil business segment’s operating margin percentage decreased to 26% in the fourth quarter, compared to 34% during the same period in 2021. “The decrease in operating margin was mainly due to increased costs related to transportation and hydrogen, partially offset by an increase in the spread between the netback on our base oil sales and the price paid/charged to our customers for the removal of their used oil,” Heritage-Crystal Clean stated in the release.