Paria records $257m in profits

Paria Fuel Trading Co Ltd reported $257 million in profits for the year ended last September 30 – this is a 58 per cent increase from 2021, in which the company earned $162 million.

For this period, it also recorded $14.1 billion, compared to $7.8 billion in 2021, in revenue driven by increased prices on the international market. This also earned Paria earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of $614.5 million, compared to $626.8 million in 2021. These were reported in Paria's chairman's report on Sunday.

The state-owned company said theis was accomplished whilst ensuring the local market was adequately supplied with fuel – of the total 15.2 million barrels sold, 7.3 million, or 48 per cent, were supplied to the local market. This is compared to last year, when 14.5 million were sold, 6.5 million to the local market.

It also recorded of the 44.6 million of barrels of crude oil handled by the port, 13.9 million barrels, or 31.2 per cent, were from Heritage Petroleum Co Ltd – to which it provides logistics functions for export.

Expenditure on capital projects stood at $18.7 million. This included restoring storage tanks, pipelines and upgrades to safety and emergency response systems, including firefighting and other integrated systems.

It added that the company continues to improve all its procedures and systems to ensure a safe and reliable supply of fuel to customers.

Its chairman, Newman George, said, "As we look ahead, the board of directors and management continue to focus on business efficiency and cost of optimisation underscored by sound HSE principles. In addition, the investment programme in the assets has focused on building redundancy and capacity to capture opportunities for growth and business expansion."