Marianna Parraga & Gary McWilliams

HOUSTON, (Reuters) – Citgo Petroleum, a U.S. crude oil refiner, reported Thursday its second consecutive loss of $160m for 2021. Earnings were affected by a winter story that began in early 2019.

The U.S. subsidiary of Venezuela’s national oil company Petroleos de Venezuela, (PDVSA), has seen its results slide since the United States cut access to Venezuelan crude in 2019. Recent changes have also caused a drop in performance, with higher prices and the temporary closing of the Corpus Christi Texas refinery.

According to the company, its fourth quarter saw a net profit of $21million due to increased crude processing and refinery usage. The company stated that crude utilization rose from 85% to 94% in the previous period to 94% in this quarter.

The average refinery throughput was 796,000 barrels/day, an increase of 698,000 bpd during the previous quarter.

Creditors seeking to recover unpaid Venezuela and PDVSA debts are trying to seize the refiner. This month, a U.S. Judge ruled that he can take initial steps to sell shares in order to pay a $1.2 million award to Citgo’s parent.

According to Chief Executive Carlos Jorda, “Winter Storm Uri caused significant damage to Corpus Christi’s refinery. This contributed to a very difficult start for 2021.”

He said, “As we come to an end of quarter one, our industry must deal with the consequences of recent events in Ukraine. This clearly shows the importance for reliable and secure supplies.”

An important meeting in Caracas between U.S. officials and Venezuelan officials this month allowed for discussions about the sanctions on PDVSA that have been in place since 2019. This could allow Venezuelan crude to return to the U.S.

Citgo posted an adjusted profit after interest, taxes and depreciation of $139 Million for the fourth quarter. This compares to the loss of $203,000,000 in the previous quarter.

In line with stronger margins at independent refiners, whose earnings increased last year due to rising U.S. gasoline and diesel demand, the quarterly profit was also higher.