Caltex Q1 profit surges Oil refiner and distributor Caltex has disclosed a surge in its first quarter to March net profit, to $190 million from $106 million a yea earlier. The profit was boosted by inventory gains of $46 million, up from $37 million in the same quarter a year earlier. Caltex has decided to close its Kurnell refinery, which will become an import and distribution centre of refined oil product. Along with stronger sales of higher margin petroleum products, Caltex benefitted from a turnaround in the perforrnance of its refining and supply unit, which posted a profit before interest and tax of $43 million in the March quarter, a turnaround from the loss of $60 million in the same quarter last year. The recovery was underpinned by the improvement in the net refining margin to $US13.60 a barrel from $US6.10, it said.