Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : The Epic American Credit and Bond Bubble Laboratory -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: mishedlo who wrote (7660)	2/11/2004 2:27:14 PM
From: Haim R. Branisteanu	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 110194

I see operating cost of almost $22.93 how much is G&A and depreciation? Syncrude production volumes, resulting in operating costs of $22.93 per barrel in the fourth quarter of 2003, an increase of $8.20 per barrel from the comparable quarter in 2002. Turnaround costs of $1.42 per barrel were incurred in the fourth quarter of 2003 for the unplanned coker turnaround, before considering production volume impacts. Comparatively, in the fourth quarter of 2002, Syncrude did not incur any major turnaround costs and produced record production volumes, which resulted in lower per unit operating costs overall. Purchased energy costs in the fourth quarter of 2003 reflected natural gas prices of $5.27 per gigajoule (“GJ”), compared with $4.98 per GJ in the same quarter of 2002. Higher natural gas prices and higher consumption volumes in the fourth quarter of 2003 explain the majority of the increase in purchased energy costs from 2002. On a year-to-date basis, operating costs per barrel were $4.13 higher in 2003 than the prior year. Per barrel operating costs were impacted by the decrease in Syncrude production volumes which totaled 77.3 million barrels in 2003 compared to 83.8 million barrels in 2002, with the most significant impact on production volumes a result of the Coker 8-1 turnaround in October. Other production constraints were a result of the unscheduled and extended scheduled maintenance that took place in the first half of 2003. The most significant increase to operating costs was to purchased energy costs, where natural gas prices averaged $6.28 per GJ in 2003, a 66 per cent increase over 2002 prices of $3.79 per GJ.