BANGKOK, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Thai Oil Pcl , the country's top refiner, plans to raise its 2011 operating profit target from about 8 billion baht ($268 million) to reflect a strong performance in the first half and higher oil prices, its chief executive said on Wednesday.
Thai Oil, nearly half owned by top energy firm PTT Pcl , expects its gross refining margin excluding any impact from inventory to average around $8 a barrel this year, Surong Bulakul told reporters.
"We think oil prices should move at around $105-110 a barrel, which is higher than what we had expected," Surong said, adding its 275,000-barrel-per-day refinery and petrochemical plants should run fully in the second half.
PTT group had expected oil prices to average $80-85 a barrel this year. Brent crude LCOc1 rose above $105 on Wednesday
Late on Tuesday, the country's top oil refiner reported its quarterly net profit tripled due to a surge in its refining margin from a year earlier.
Its first-half net profit surged 243 percent to 10 billion baht, which included a 3.5 billion baht gain from its oil stock.
Surong said its second-half gross refining margin would be a "conservative" $4-5 a barrel, versus $5.2 a barrel in the first half.
Analysts are positive about the outlook for the regional refining sector in the second half after Taiwan refiner Formosa Petrochemical Corp shut its 540,000-barrel-per-day refinery. FACTBOX on Formosa refinery fires
"We retain our "buy" rating on Thai Oil due to a healthy refining outlook and better product positioning with chemical restocking into the second half of 2011," Citigroup analyst Jimmy Wong said in a note.
Thai Oil has a refining capacity of 275,000 barrels a day of crude oil and other feedstocks, representing about 22 percent of Thailand's total, and it also runs paraxylene petrochemical and lubricant businesses via subsidiaries.
The company expected its paraxylene expansion to be completed in July 2012, earlier than scheduled in October 2012, which should boost its annual paraxylene capacity by 100,000 tonnes to 598,000 tonnes, Surong said.
At the midsession break, Thai Oil shares were up 3.3 percent, outperforming a 1.7 percent rise in the broad market . ($1 = 29.87 Baht) (Reporting by Pisit Changplayngam and Khettiya Jittapong)
