Caltex Australia fuels output hurt by unplanned refinery shutdown

By ROSS KELLY

SYDNEY -- Caltex Australia said that fuel production last month was hurt by the unplanned shutdown of a refining unit in Brisbane.

Australia's biggest refiner, which is 50% owned by Chevron, also said its refinery margins in May were squeezed by stronger Brent crude oil prices and a sharp fall in the value of the Australian dollar.

The unplanned outage at the Lytton refinery in Brisbane cut fuel production by about 100 million liters, Caltex said. The refinery is now operating normally, it added, without giving further details.

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