Floods force Thai petroleum firm to shut solar power plants

Bangchak Petroleum expects to lose about 80-100 million baht or $2.5-3.2 million in monthly revenue due to floods that forced it to temporarily shut its biodiesel and solar power plants.

The company's sales of oil productsm have dropped by 300,000 litres a day, accounting for 6-7 percent of total sales, President Anusorn Sangnummuan announced.

"We expect revenue and profit to be in line with our targets although there will be some drop in the fourth quarter," Anusorn said.

He expected average 2011 refining margins of $6.0-6.5 a barrel and $6.6 in October.

Anusorn said he expected the plants to resume operations in two months, adding its 120,000-barrel-per-day refinery and storage depot in Bangkok had not been affected.

It expects to achieve its 2011 revenue of 400 billion baht or b$13 billion, versus an estimated 370 billion last year, despite some impact from floods, Chief Executive Veerasak Kositpaisal said.

The full story is available at Reuters.