Dividend
Caltex declared a final dividend of $89.1 million or 33 cents per share fully franked. This makes the total dividend declared for 2007 80 cents per share fully franked after 47 cents per share paid in September 2007 (2006 total dividends: 80 cents per share).
The company is facing increasing cash demands as a result of rising capital costs and higher working capital requirements due to the significant rise in the cost of crude oil. The level of dividend has been set taking into consideration future cash flow requirements and the need to maintain a prudent debt level in an environment of declining refiner margins.
Record refinery production
There had been a strong operating performance in refining with a record 12.1 billion litres production of all products for the year (2006: 11.9 billion litres), including 10.9 billion litres of high value transport fuels (petrol, diesel and jet fuel), up from 10.2 billion litres in 2006.
New throughput records were set during the year with average utilisation for the fuels refineries increasing to 84% (2006: 78%) although production was slightly lower than anticipated due to unscheduled unit shutdowns for essential repair and maintenance work at both the Kurnell (Sydney) and Lytton (Brisbane) refineries in November and December.
Significant progress was made during the year on major capital projects including a second diesel hydrotreater unit (DHTU) at the Lytton refinery and new crude oil and diesel storage tanks at the Kurnell refinery.
The DHTU construction is on track for completion in the first quarter of 2009 with the final construction contracts still to be awarded. globally, capital costs continue to rise due to the tight availability of skilled labour and materials cost increases. Independent data shows capital costs in the downstream industry generally have risen by 70% or more over the last three years. Caltex is experiencing similar cost pressures for the Lytton DHTU with final costs currently anticipated to be around $320 million. This compares with the initial estimate for the project of approximately $250 million. When commissioned the unit will increase Caltex’s overall capacity to produce extra low sulfur diesel (maximum 10 parts per million sulfur) by 40%.
Caltex declared a final dividend of $89.1 million or 33 cents per share fully franked. This makes the total dividend declared for 2007 80 cents per share fully franked after 47 cents per share paid in September 2007 (2006 total dividends: 80 cents per share).
The company is facing increasing cash demands as a result of rising capital costs and higher working capital requirements due to the significant rise in the cost of crude oil. The level of dividend has been set taking into consideration future cash flow requirements and the need to maintain a prudent debt level in an environment of declining refiner margins.
Record refinery production
There had been a strong operating performance in refining with a record 12.1 billion litres production of all products for the year (2006: 11.9 billion litres), including 10.9 billion litres of high value transport fuels (petrol, diesel and jet fuel), up from 10.2 billion litres in 2006.
New throughput records were set during the year with average utilisation for the fuels refineries increasing to 84% (2006: 78%) although production was slightly lower than anticipated due to unscheduled unit shutdowns for essential repair and maintenance work at both the Kurnell (Sydney) and Lytton (Brisbane) refineries in November and December.
Significant progress was made during the year on major capital projects including a second diesel hydrotreater unit (DHTU) at the Lytton refinery and new crude oil and diesel storage tanks at the Kurnell refinery.
The DHTU construction is on track for completion in the first quarter of 2009 with the final construction contracts still to be awarded. globally, capital costs continue to rise due to the tight availability of skilled labour and materials cost increases. Independent data shows capital costs in the downstream industry generally have risen by 70% or more over the last three years. Caltex is experiencing similar cost pressures for the Lytton DHTU with final costs currently anticipated to be around $320 million. This compares with the initial estimate for the project of approximately $250 million. When commissioned the unit will increase Caltex’s overall capacity to produce extra low sulfur diesel (maximum 10 parts per million sulfur) by 40%.