Calumet’s quarterly profit shrinks on higher oil prices

Calumet Specialty Products LP reaped a profit of $8.2 million in the fourth quarter, a 56-percent
decrease from the same period a year ago, the company announced Wednesday morning.

The Indianapolis-based refiner
and processor of specialty lubricants attributed the decline to higher crude oil prices during the quarter,
as well as lower overall selling prices. Increasing incentive compensation costs also were a factor.

Fourth quarter revenue dipped less than 1 percent, to $495.8 million, compared with the same
time last year.

"We finished 2009 with our fourth consecutive quarter of solid adjusted
[earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization],” Calumet CEO Bill Grube said
in a prepared statement. “However, the continued economic weakness and lower fuel-products [profit margins] continue
to weigh on our results.”

For the entire year, Calumet’s profit rose nearly 40
percent, to $61.8 million, compared with 2008.

Revenue in 2009, however, fell to $1.8 billion,
from $2.4 billion in the previous year.