US Phillips 66 reports USD1.6b profit in Q3 

(MENAFN) Conoco Phillips spin-off Philips 66 reported USD1.6 billion net profit during the third quarter, up from USD1 billion a year ago, Reuters reported.

This was driven by the Houston-based oil refiner's increased access to cheaper crude oil from North America sources.

More than half of the company's refining capacity is on the Gulf Coast and in the central corridor of the US, with access to those cheaper crudes in North Dakota, Texas, Kansas and other states, the company's executives said.

Tim Taylor, executive vice president of commercial, marketing, transportation and business development, said the company was delivering up to 40,000 bpd of cheap crude from North Dakota's Bakken shale play by rail to Phillips 66's 238,000 bpd Bayway refinery in Linden, New Jersey, double the amount shipped in the second quarter.

Taylor also said Phillips 66 is boosting pipeline and truck deliveries of Mississippi Lime crude to its Ponca City, Oklahoma refinery, to 50,000 bpd by the end of 2013.

Philips 66 signed a deal with Kinder Morgan Energy Partners L.P. to build a pipeline to transport Eagle Ford shale oil from South Texas to the refiner's 247,000 bpd plant in Sweeny, Texas.

Also, Taylor said the company is pushing hard to bring inland crudes to its pair of California refineries, which face higher operating costs under a state law that requires dramatic reductions in emissions by 2020.

Phillips 66's worldwide refining utilization rate rose to 96 percent from 92 percent, even though the company's 247,000 bpd Alliance refinery in Bell Chasse, Louisiana, was shut three weeks because of Hurricane Isaac, the company said.