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Europe's largest independent oil refiner, Petroplus, has announced that it made a net loss of $11.3 million in the first quarter of 2009 following a 38 percent fall in revenue year-on-year.

Net income dropped by $76.5 million during the first three months of the year from $65.2 million in 2008 as revenues plummeted from $5,422.1 million to $3.364.7 million.

Commenting on the Company’s first quarter financial results and liquidity position, Karyn F. Ovelmen, Petroplus’s Chief Financial Officer, said, “The ‘clean’ refining and marketing EBITDA contribution was approximately $145 million in the first quarter 2009 as compared to $305 million in the fourth quarter 2008. Earnings were negatively impacted quarter-on-quarter, by lower refining market cracks and lower throughput rates, partially offset by lower operating expenses.

We ended the quarter in a net cash borrowing position of approximately $320 million. The decline in the net cash position from December 31 to March 31 was primarily driven by the increase in working capital burden due to an increase in paid-crude oil and product inventories and other balance sheet changes. The net debt-to-net capitalization ratio at March 31 was 50 percent. In terms of liquidity, the company ended the quarter with approximately $500 million in available credit under our working capital facility.”

Commenting on refinery operations, Robert J. Lavinia, Petroplus’s Chief Executive Officer, said, “The majority of the downtime during the quarter was planned with the exception of the downtime at the BRC refinery, which suffered damage to the sulfur plant, affecting its upgrading capacity. The issues at the BRC refinery have been resolved and the refinery is currently running at planned rates. We are continuing on the improvement of operations with refinery-wide technical sharing, implementing best practices on safety and enhanced turnaround planning. This has enabled us to move the Cressier turnaround from 2009 to 2010.”

Regarding the outlook for the refining market and the Company strategy, Thomas D. O’Malley, Petroplus’s Chairman of the Board of Directors, said, “Although the contraction in oil product demand and the resulting decline in European refining cracks are expected to result in lower earnings in 2009, Petroplus will manage its way through this potentially difficult financial period. We have a balanced capital structure, a low cost operation, and an experienced management team that has successfully managed through previous refining market down cycles.”

O’Malley added, “While the current environment will be challenging, it does lend itself to potential opportunities to purchase refining assets at very low market valuations. Petroplus has been a growth company and it is our intention to continue to pursue our growth strategy. Any acquisition would have to meet our strict criteria of being meaningfully accretive to earnings and cash flow positive from day one, but would also have to provide for an opportunity to enhance, and not just maintain, the health of our balance sheet. We will continue to do everything possible to ensure we maintain a strong liquidity position during this global economic downturn and we will also pursue opportunities that could potentially provide value to our shareholders when it comes to an improving economic environment.”

Throughput rates by refinery for the second quarter and full year 2009, including intermediate feedstocks, should average approximately as follows, according to Petroplus:

Coryton at 175,000 to 185,000 bpd for the second quarter and for the year;

Ingolstadt at 100,000 to 110,000 bpd for the second quarter and 95,000 to 105,000 bpd for the year;

BRC at 85,000 to 95,000 bpd for the second quarter and for the year;

Cressier at 50,000 to 60,000 bpd for the second quarter and for the year;

Petit Couronne at 80,000 to 90,000 bpd for the second quarter and 100,000 to 110,000 bpd for the year;

Reichstett at 50,000 to 60,000 bpd for the second quarter and 60,000 to 70,000 bpd for the year;

Teesside throughput is dependent upon the economic environment.