PDVSA's profit in the third quarter fell to $358 million from $2.366 billion in the previous year's third quarter, an 85% fall, despite net profits of almost $3.5 billion for the first nine months of 2010, up from $2.6 billion for that same period of 2009, and its total sales from continuing operations climbed 27% to $65.7 billion.
Venezuelan state oil giant Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. reported a 35% increase in net profits for the January-September 2010 period, compared with the same three quarters of the previous year.
For the first nine months of 2010, PDVSA’s net profits totaled just under $3.5 billion, up from $2.6 billion for that same period of 2009, and its total sales from continuing operations climbed 27% to $65.7 billion.
The increase in those figures was due to a higher average price of crude in that period of 2010, when the per-barrel price rose to $72.69, compared with $57.02 for those same nine months of 2009.
At the same time, the company's profit in the third quarter fell to $358 million from $2.366 billion in the previous year's third quarter, an 85% fall.
"The most notable issue on the expense side was the increase of crude purchases ... as they amounted to $9.7 billion or 45% of sales," said Juan Cruz, an analyst at Barclays investment bank. "Using average WTI prices for the quarter, we estimate that the company bought approximately 135,000 barrels per day in the market to satisfy delivery obligations, compared to an average of 146,000 barrels per day during the first half of the year."
Net exports of crude oil and products to international markets rose to $64.4 billion for the nine-month period that ended in September 2010, up 30 percent from $49.6 billion in the January-September 2009 period.
According to the financial statement, published Thursday on PDVSA’s Web site, the company had $22.1 billion in total financial debt at the end of September 2010.
In the 5 months since the end of that third quarter, the company has issued $9.75 billion worth of US dollar debt.
"Pro forma for issuance through the 4th Quarter of 2010 and adding the proposed new '22s, we estimate PDVSA's consolidated debt at $33.5 billion," said Barclays' Cruz.
Venezuela is a founding member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and one of the biggest suppliers of oil to the United States, the destination for more than one-third the South American country’s crude output of approximately 2.9 million bpd.
