Another Oil Co. Reports Records for Q2

PHILADELPHIA -- Sunoco joins the list of oil companies that have reported record net earnings for the second quarter of 2006. The company rolls in with $426 million in net income, up from $242 million in the same period last year.

For the first half of 2006, Sunoco recorded a net income of $505 million, another jump from the $358 million earned in the first half of 2005. Revenue topped $10.5 billion for the second quarter of 2006, an increase from the 2005 second quarter revenue of $7.99 billion.

"Strong refining margins, particularly for ethanol-blended gasoline and low-sulfur diesel products, led to record quarterly earnings," said John G. Drosdick, Sunoco's chairman and CEO. Margins strengthened as the tight supply and demand balance in the refining market continued, he added. "In this market, our income again came largely from refining and supply."

Drosdick doesn't see the profits decreasing any time soon. "Despite the higher prices associated with crude oil and product price increases, we continued to see steady demand for transportation fuels in the second quarter," he said. Sunoco reported 308,900 barrels of gas sold daily in retail markets for Q2 2006. For the same time in 2005, 305,400 barrels were sold daily.

Retail margins also increased due to slightly higher retail gas margins, he said. In the second quarter of 2006, retail marketing brought in $10 million, up from $7 million the year prior. Sunoco attributes the increase to improved gasoline margins. Monthly gasoline and diesel sold per retail location was approximately 3 percent higher than the second quarter of 2005.

Sunoco manufactures and markets petroleum products to more than 4,700 retail sites. With a refining capacity of 900,000 barrels per day, the company claims to be the largest independent refiner-marketer in the United States.
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