Israel's Oil Refineries (ORL.TA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) on Monday swung to a year-on-year second-quarter loss, hurt by a near doubling of crude oil prices and lower end-product prices.

Oil Refineries, Israel's biggest refinery, reported a net loss of $8 million compared with a net profit of $71 million during the same period last year.

The company reported revenue of $1.21 billion in the second-quarter, down sharply from $2.47 billion in the same period last year.

The global economic crisis has drawn a stiffening of fuel product prices which, paired with the increase in crude oil prices, has eroded global refining margins, Oil Refineries Chief Executive Yashar Ben-Mordechai said in a statement.

Ben-Mordechai said the company managed to partly offset the decline in revenue by maximising the benefits of its strategic location on the Mediterranean basin, which allows it to market products in several neighbouring markets, like Cyprus and Turkey.

Oil Refineries' shares were down 5.7 percent at midday, compared with a 2.1 percent drop on the broader Tel Aviv bourse.

It noted crude oil prices rose from $37 a barrel at the end of last year to $68 per barrel at the end of the second-quarter.

The company said it had a basic un-hedged inventory of 600,000 tons of crude oil, but the change in the value of its inventory does not affect its cash flow.

Israel