OMV Petrom reports wide refining margin on top of high crude oil price in Q2

OMV Petrom (BVB: SNP) reported in the second quarter of the year (Q2) a crude oil and NGL production of 57.5 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day (kboe/d) (64.8 in the same quarter of 2021) and production of natural gas of 62.6 kboe/d (68.9 in Q2 last year), according to the data sent by the company to the Bucharest Stock Exchange.

Given the high price of petroleum products on the market, which increased more sharply than those of oil, the company obtained a very wide refining margin: USD 24.44 per barrel, up from USD 18.31 in the first quarter of the year and USD 4.27 in the same quarter of 2021.

Compared to Q1 this year, the refining margin rose by 33%. This refining margin could have been even higher, but the company made accounting changes related to the transfer price of crude oil.

In the context of an extraordinarily high Urals-Brent differential, triggered by the geopolitical context, starting Q2/22, Petrom bases the transfer price between Exploration & Production and Refining & Marketing on Brent instead of Urals, as Urals (lower) is no longer a relevant reference.

The price of Brent oil rose to USD 114 per barrel in Q2, from USD 102 in Q1 and USD 69 in Q2 last year.

(Photo source: Flickr/OMV Petrom)