MOL Sees Average Oil Price Around $110 A Barrel in 2013-2014 -CEO

By Veronika Gulyas

BUDAPEST--Hungarian oil and gas company MOL Nyrt. (MOL.BU) expects oil prices to remain in a range about $110 a barrel in 2013-2014, oscillating around the 2012 level, the firm's chief executive said Tuesday at a press briefing.

MOL published its fourth-quarter and full 2012 results late Monday and its drilling update earlier Tuesday.

Foreseeing a difficult operating environment this year, the CEO Jozsef Molnar expects a slight deterioration in gasoline and diesel crack spreads in 2013 from the 2012 average levels when they were $190 a metric ton and $130 a ton respectively.

The company forecasts a "significant" rise in what is dubbed the Robin Hood tax, a state levy on energy firms in Hungary on top of the sector-wide "crisis" taxes and corporate taxes.

The company paid almost 10 billion forints ($45 million) in Robin Hood tax in 2012, while the 2013 level will depend on the consolidated, audited full-year 2012 profit, Janos Simola, MOL's deputy CEO responsible for finances, said.

To offset higher taxes, the utility is due to continue its downstream streamlining program, where it sees a combined savings and revenue-increasing plan bringing in $400 million in 2013, as part of the 2012-2014 program that aims to save MOL $500 million-$550 million.

Besides savings within the downstream segment--which also includes filling stations--the firm expects growth in Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and the Czech Republic; consolidation in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia; and keeping its market leading position in Hungary and Slovakia.

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