Joseph Israel
Analyst · Goldman Sachs. Your line is open
Thank you, Avigal. We operated well in a low-margin environment and remain focused on our strategic initiatives to support future capture and cash flow generation across our system. In Tyler, total throughput in the third quarter was approximately 75,000 barrels per day. Production margin in the quarter was $7.48 per barrel and operating expenses were $4.61 per barrel. For the fourth quarter, the estimated total throughput in Tyler is in the 67,000 to 69,000 barrels per day range. In El Dorado, total throughput in the quarter was approximately 78,000 barrels per day. Our production margin was $0.66 per barrel including an unfavorable estimated $0.65 per barrel impact from outages in the FCC and Penex units. Operating expenses were $5.01 per barrel including approximately $0.35 per barrel of unfavorable impact related to those outages. Estimated throughput for the fourth quarter is in the 77,000 to 80,000 barrels per day range. On a strategic level, the El Dorado refinery is well positioned from a configuration standpoint to compete, and operationally the team has demonstrated safe and reliable operations on a consistent basis. As Avigal mentioned, the $100 million run rate benefits generated by the self-help initiatives include $50 million to $80 million contribution in the refining segment. These initiatives are mostly around process optimization products offering as well as expanding your market footprint. All related upgrades are planned with minimal capital outlay. Approximately $50 million of the expected benefits are in the El Dorado system with an estimated $20 million in the refinery gross margin level, leaving approximately $30 million for the products and commercial optimization. An incremental $2 per barrel of net margin will support El Dorado cash flow generation through the cycles. Timing, as Avigal mentioned, we are expecting the improvements to be in place by mid-next year. In Big Spring, total throughput for the quarter was approximately 73,000 barrels per day. Our production margin was $6.82 per barrel and operating expenses were $6.08 per barrel. We are proud with our progress in Big Spring as we achieve our goals and as importantly, build this improvement in a sustainable manner. Estimated throughput for the fourth quarter is in the 71,000 to 74,000 barrels per day range. In Krotz Springs, total throughput was approximately 82,000 barrels per day. Our production margin was $4.80 per barrel and operating expenses in the quarter were $4.82 per barrel. We are executing our turnaround per plan and all units are scheduled to get back to normal operations by the end of the month. As a result, planned throughput for the fourth quarter is in the 50,000 to 53,000 barrels per day range. Our implied system throughput target for the fourth quarter is in the 265,000 to 276,000 barrels per day range. Moving on to the commercial front, in the third quarter, supply and marketing's contribution was $11 million. Of that, approximately $13 million was generated by wholesale marketing, partially offset by asphalt with a $2 million loss. In summary, we continue to execute well on the fundamentals of our business. After successfully addressing reliability gaps, our teams continue to focus on operational excellence and commercial optimization initiatives for each one of our sites. I will now turn the call over to Robert for the financial variance.