Buy low, sell high. That's been a formula for success for
petroleum refinerDelek US Holdings (
DK
) for almost two years.
Unlike refiners on the Gulf Coast, its inland refinery
locations give it the ability to buy more discounted Midland,
Texas-sourced crude oil, pegged to West Texas Intermediate (
WTI
) prices.
"Midland crude is one of the cheapest crudes in North America
right now and both of our refineries are enjoying access to it,"
said Assi Ginzburg, executive vice president of Delek US.
Crude coming from booming inland oil sources such as the
Bakken Shale basin in North Dakota and from southern Canada can't
move easily to the Gulf because of inadequate pipelines, giving
inland refiners such as Delek an edge.
While it buys feedstock at the discounted prices, Delek sells
refined gasoline and diesel at the higher Gulf Coast price, which
is linked to the Brent international benchmark.
"A transportation bottleneck for crude in North America
depresses prices of WTI inland, but product prices are still set
by the Brent because most refinery capacity is on the coast,"
said analyst Sam Margolin of Dahlman Rose.
Rails are being put to more use, but they're more costly than
pipelines.
The difference between WTI and Brent has been unusually high,
recently $23 a barrel, the highest it's been all year, Margolin
says.
"Delek has $23 a barrel in savings that (Brent buyers) don't
have," he said.
Delek's two refineries are in El Dorado, Ark., and Tyler,
Texas, with a combined capacity of 140,000 barrels of crude oil a
day.
Delek's refined products are mostly sold at wholesale to
customers such asExxon Mobil (
XOM
) andChevron (
CVX
).
As petroleum refiners go, Brentwood, Tenn.-based Delek US is
one of the smaller players. That's true even among
independent-operator peers, includingValero (
VLO
),Western Refining (WNR) andHolly Frontier (HFC), among
others.
But Delek makes up for its size with good returns and shares
that have more than doubled this year on the back of strong
earnings.
Ginzburg says that while Delek buys some Brent-priced crude
now, the goal by the end of 2013's first quarter is not to buy
any, unless the price drops.
"Between our rail and our next (pipeline) connections to
Midland crude, we will not need any Gulf Coast crude," he
said.
Besides local sources, it gets crude from the Bakken, the
Permian in West Texas and Canada, he says.
In the third quarter, strong refined margins helped Delek post
record net income of $100.3 million, or $1.67 a share, vs. $85.3
million, or $1.46 a share, a year earlier. Delek had a cash
balance of $318 million.
Using its strong cash flow, the firm reduced net debt to $55
million from $205 million a year ago.
What's more, the board approved a 160% increase in the regular
quarterly dividend, to 10 cents a share. Special dividends are on
top of that.
"The industry has been so flush with cash the last two years
that they'll all be increasing dividends next year and that's
what investors are focused on," Margolin said.
That may offset concerns about slower earnings growth next
year if the WTI and Brent spread narrows as new pipelines come
online.
A Thomson Reuters analysts' poll has Delek's per-share
earnings falling 23% next year to $3.49 from this year's expected
$4.56, which would be a 78% rise over last year.
In 2011, Delek earned $2.56, up more than 800% from 2010's
36-cent loss.
Margolin thinks the pricing differential, while tough to
predict, will be better than expected next year, though likely
down from this year.
"Pipelines being built are only going to replace what's being
used for rail," he said. "If rail activity decreases, there is
going to be just as much trapped crude as this year, factoring in
higher production from E&P companies."
In a recent report, Tudor Pickering & Holt noted in regard
to new pipeline capacity, "precedent suggests the market will
absorb the capacity within a handful of months."
Margin may come down due to more take-away capacity, Ginz-burg
says. But he points out that while about 50% of its crude this
year is sourced from discounted Midland and local crude, it'll go
up to 80% next year as new pipelines serving its refineries come
online.
"That's a huge shift in the crude slate, which in today's
environment should increase the profitability of the company," he
said.
But today's pricing environment may not be the same.
Delek US is a subsidiary of Israeli conglomerate Delek Group,
which owns 53% of its US offshoot. It began in 2001 with two
convenience-store-chain acquisitions.
It entered the refining business the same way, taking
advantage of low prices in a down cycle. It bought its first one
in Texas in 2004, a second in Arkansas in 2010.
Delek added logistics assets such as pipelines and storage.
They are now part of a Master Limited Partnership spun off on
Nov. 2,Delek Logistics Partners (DKL).
Delek US raised $176.2 million from the offering and owns
62.4% of the partnership.
"The MLP is expected to be a cash-flow generator for (Delek
US), while pursuing growth both organically and through
acquisitions," wrote the Tudor Pickering analysts.
Delek's 372 convenience stores, most of them in the Southeast,
are a hedge against the typical volatility of the refining
business.
The MLP, meanwhile, "gives us another currency to grow the
company," Ginzburg said. "We are an acquisitive company. We have
more than $500 million in cash now after our (MLP) IPO."