OLD GREENWICH, Conn., Sept. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Premcor Inc.
(NYSE: PCO) today announced its plan to restructure and reduce its
non-represented workforce at its Port Arthur, Texas and Lima, Ohio refineries,
and to make additional staff reductions at its St. Louis administrative office
beyond those announced last April. The restructuring will reduce the
company's total non-represented workforce by approximately twenty percent.
Premcor will record a restructuring charge of approximately $10 million in the
third quarter related to this action. Reductions at the refineries will take
place in early October, and those in St. Louis will take place by the end of
the first quarter of 2003. As in Premcor's previous restructurings, a
competitive separation package, including severance pay and career transition
assistance, will be provided to all impacted employees.
Thomas D. O'Malley, Premcor's Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and
President, said, "The U.S. refining market remains under significant pressure
after twelve months of difficult conditions. The reduction in workforce
announced today is necessary for the long-term financial viability of Premcor.
This restructuring will reduce costs by approximately $15 million per annum.
Roughly half of these savings are at the operating expense level, and will be
visible beginning in the fourth quarter. The balance will be reflected in
Premcor's refining and corporate G&A expenses, which should be reduced to
approximately $8 million per quarter by the end of the first quarter of 2003."
O'Malley continued, "In addition to the restructuring, we have taken steps
this month to reduce our crude acquisition costs at the Lima Refinery by
roughly 20 cents per barrel. Given these and other ongoing improvements to
Premcor's operations, we are confident that the company can be profitable in
2003 even if refining margins, crude prices, and light-heavy crude
differentials remain at the levels we have seen so far this year."
Premcor Inc. is one of the largest independent petroleum refiners and
marketers of unbranded transportation fuels and heating oil in the United
States.
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning
of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including the
company's current expectations with respect to future market conditions,
future operating results, the future performance of its refinery operations,
and future debt reductions. Words such as "expects," "intends," "plans,"
"projects," "believes," "estimates," "may," "will," "should," "shall," and
similar expressions typically identify such forward-looking statements. Even
though Premcor believes the expectations reflected in such forward-looking
statements are based on reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that
its expectations will be attained. Factors that could cause actual results to
differ materially from expectations include, but are not limited to,
operational difficulties, varying market conditions, potential changes in
gasoline, crude oil, distillate, and other commodity prices, government
regulations, and other factors contained from time to time in the reports
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission by the company and its
subsidiaries, Premcor USA Inc. and The Premcor Refining Group Inc., including
the company's Form S-1 and the company's and its subsidiaries' quarterly
reports on Form 10-Q, reports on Form 8-K, and annual reports on Form 10-K.
SOURCE Premcor Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.premcorinc.com
CONTACT:
Media & Investors - Joe Watson,
+1-203-698-7510, Investors - Karen Davis, +1-314-854-1424, or
Michael Taylor, +1-314-719-2304, all of Premcor Inc.
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