CARACAS, Venezuela (AFX) - The head of Venezuela-owned Citgo Petroleum Corp. said the company plans no further sales of refineries or other major assets next year, according to a media report.
Houston-based Citgo, which is wholly owned by Venezuela's state oil company, sold its minority share in a Texas refinery to Lyondell Chemical Co. for $2.1 billion earlier this year.
'In 2007, we are not planning the sale of any of our assets in other companies,' Citgo President Felix Rodriguez told Venezuela's online Panorama newspaper in comments published over the weekend.
Rodriguez added, however, that Citgo would continue to review the profitability of its asphalt-producing business.
'If reports show us that profits are not the most optimum, we will probably leave that market and concentrate on the sales of other byproducts,' he said. Citgo Asphalt Refining Company is a leading supplier of asphalt on the U.S. east coast.
The company plans to maintain refinery production at about 840,000 barrels a day for the next four years and, instead of expanding its business, concentrate on producing better quality products, such as low-sulfur diesel and lubricants that are in line with U.S. market regulations, Rodriguez told Panorama.
'Today, the company is working and seeking an equilibrium between the minimum investment necessary and (maximum) profits,' Rodriguez was quoted as saying.
Citgo's profits increased 30 percent in 2006 and it will pay parent company Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA, $800 million in dividends this year, up from $750 million in 2005, Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez also said net revenue is expected to reach $1.5 billion by the end of 2006.
On Citgo's program that offers discounted heating oil to low-income U.S. households, Rodriguez said in 2006 the company supplied 378 million liters of fuel at a 40 percent discount, which has benefited 2.2 million Americans in 16 states.
Panorama published the interview during the holiday weekend on Saturday. Citgo and PDVSA officials were unavailable for comment Monday.
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