Year-to-date net income totaled to $606 million, or $4.35 per share, versus $643 million, or $4.58 per share, in the previous year.
Quarterly benchmark crack spreads in the West Coast and Pacific Northwest regions were down 28% and 34%, respectively, from the last year. Consequently, refining margins of $9.09 per throughput barrel during the quarter were $6.16 below those in the third quarter of 2006.
Bruce Smith, chairman and CEO, said: The industry experienced a significant increase in crude prices in the third quarter, while product prices rose at a much slower rate. These market fundamentals were the single biggest impact to our quarterly earnings versus last year. The lower margin environment and rapid rise in crude price also negatively impacted other segments of our business, including marketing and our long haul crude hedge program.
The company announced that its board of directors has approved a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.10 per share.
