OREANDA-NEWS.  Calumet Specialty Products Partners, L.P. (NASDAQ: CLMT) ("Calumet" or the "Partnership"), a leading independent producer of specialty hydrocarbon and fuel products, today reported a net loss for the quarter ended September 30, 2013 of USD 34.8 million, or USD (0.54) per diluted unit, compared to net income of USD 42.4 million, or USD 0.69 per diluted unit for the same quarter in 2012. Third quarter 2013 results also include USD 2.4 million in non-cash unrealized derivative gains, compared to USD 22.1 million of non-cash unrealized derivative losses in the third quarter 2012. Adjusted EBITDA (as defined below in the section of this press release titled "Non-GAAP Financial Measures") was USD 38.3 million for the third quarter 2013, as compared to USD 121.3 million in the prior quarter.

During the third quarter 2013, the Partnership's performance was adversely impacted by a significant decline in both fuel and specialty products margins as compared to the prior year period.  Sales prices for gasoline, lubricating oils and asphalt did not keep pace with a rapid escalation in the price of crude oil during the third quarter 2013, resulting in a year over year decline in gross profit. Results for the third quarter 2013 were further adversely impacted by a planned 30-day turnaround at the Partnership's 10,000 barrels per day ("bpd") Great Falls, Montana refinery during which the refinery did not produce finished products.

Distributable Cash Flow ("DCF") (as defined below in the section of this press release titled "Non-GAAP Financial Measures") for the third quarter 2013 was USD (16.0) million, compared to USD 92.6 million in the prior year period. DCF was negatively impacted year over year by a decline in gross profit of USD 96.3 million, an increase of USD 15.9 million in turnaround costs primarily related to a planned turnaround at the Montana refinery and higher replacement capital expenditures of USD 9.8 million.

Management Commentary

"Higher crude oil prices adversely impacted refined product margins within both our fuel and specialty products segments during the third quarter," stated Bill Grube, Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Calumet Specialty Products Partners, L.P. "During September, we conducted 30 days of planned maintenance at our Montana refinery, which further impacted profitability in the quarter."

"During October, general market conditions began to steadily improve," continued Grube. "Crude oil prices have declined, discounts on Western Canadian Select ("WCS") and Bakken crude oils have widened relative to WTI, the benchmark Gulf Coast 2/1/1 crack spread has rebounded and the per gallon cost of a D6 ethanol RIN has fallen more than 80% from the all-time high recorded in July 2013," continued Grube.

"We have made significant operational advancements at our San Antonio refinery in recent months," continued Grube. "During October, we began blending and selling finished gasoline at our San Antonio refinery for the first time since we took ownership of the facility in January 2013. During the first quarter of 2014, we expect to complete an expansion of our crude unit at San Antonio to increase capacity from 14,500 bpd to 17,500 bpd, a move which will allow us to sell additional fuel products into the surrounding market. Collectively, we anticipate these two projects should result in USD 15-20 million in incremental annualized Adjusted EBITDA upon completion," continued Grube.

"The greenfield construction of our North Dakota diesel refinery joint venture with MDU Resources is expected to be completed during the fourth quarter of 2014, while our Montana refinery capacity expansion project is now expected to be completed during the first quarter of 2016," stated Grube. Collectively, we expect these two projects will provide a significant base of incremental cash flows upon which to grow our business in the years to come."

"In our specialty products segment, we recently received confirmation from Wal-Mart Stores that they will begin selling our Royal Purple line of automotive synthetic lubricants and performance products during the first quarter of 2014. We expect to sell a wide range of Royal Purple products in more than 2,400 Wal-Mart locations," continued Grube. "The Wal-Mart distribution channel represents a major opportunity to grow the Royal Purple brand, consistent with the strategy we outlined during our Analyst Day held in June 2013. While our packaged and synthetic specialty product sales currently represent a relatively small percentage of our overall specialty products segment sales mix, we have continued to see outstanding growth in this product line and will look to expand this area of our business during 2014."

"As part of our overall risk mitigation strategy, the Partnership continues to hedge portions of its anticipated fuels production as a means of reducing exposure to commodity price fluctuations," continued Grube. "As of September 30, 2013, we had entered into derivative contracts on approximately 14.9 million barrels of fuels production at an average crack spread of USD 26.93 per barrel through calendar year 2016. During the third quarter of 2013, our Adjusted EBITDA benefited from USD 13.7 million in cash settlements on derivative instruments from our hedging program," continued Grube.

"We remain committed to maintaining a distribution policy that provides for consistent distributions to our unitholders," stated Grube. "In October, we announced a cash distribution of USD 0.685 per unit, or USD 2.74 per unit on an annualized basis, for the quarter ended September 30, 2013 on all of our outstanding limited partner units."

"During 2013, we have completed maintenance turnarounds at several of our largest fuel products refineries to ensure that these facilities continue to operate in a safe, reliable and competitive manner," continued Grube. "The financial costs and related production outages resulting from these scheduled turnarounds have contributed to a year over year decline in distributable cash flow during the first nine months of 2013. Looking ahead, we do not anticipate a comparable level of required turnaround spending to occur until the next major planned maintenance cycle in 2018."

"We continue to maintain ample liquidity to fund the continued growth of our operations," continued Grube. "At the conclusion of the third quarter, we had USD 611.0 million in combined cash and availability under our revolving credit facility."

U.S. Renewable Fuels Standard Compliance Update

In conjunction with the Partnership's ongoing compliance with the U.S. Renewable Fuels Standard ("RFS"), Calumet will continue purchasing blending credits referred to as Renewable Identification Numbers ("RINs"). The Partnership records its outstanding RINs obligation as a balance sheet liability. This liability is marked-to-market on a quarterly basis to reflect the market price of RINs on the last day of each quarter. Between the second and third quarters of 2013, the price of a D6 ethanol RIN declined from USD 0.96 on June 30, 2013 to USD 0.43 on September 30, 2013, resulting in a decline in the Partnership's obligation to purchase RINs of USD 18.0 million for the third quarter compared to the second quarter 2013. The Partnership expects its gross RINs obligation, which includes RINs that are required to be secured through either blending or through the purchase of RINs in the open market, to be in the range of 20-25 million RINs for the fourth quarter 2013. For the full year 2013, the Partnership anticipates its gross RINs obligation to be in the range of 85-95 million RINs. Despite the recent decline in RINs prices during the third quarter 2013, the Partnership continues to anticipate that expenses related to RFS compliance have the potential to remain a significant expense.

TexStar Crude Oil Pipeline Agreement

Calumet Specialty Products Partners, L.P. today announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Calumet San Antonio Refining, LLC, has entered into a definitive agreement with TexStar Midstream Logistics, L.P. ("TexStar") under which TexStar will construct, own and operate a 30,000 bpd crude oil pipeline system that will supply significant volumes of Eagle Ford crude oil to Calumet's 14,500 bpd San Antonio, Texas refinery, which capacity we expect will be 17,500 bpd at the completion of the 2014 crude unit expansion.

Under the terms of the 15-year agreement, TexStar has committed to install and operate the Karnes North Pipeline System ("KNPS"), an 8-inch, 50-mile pipeline that will transport crude oil from Karnes City, Texas - a major center of oil production in the Eagle Ford shale formation - to Calumet's Elmendorf, Texas terminal, a key supply hub for Calumet's San Antonio refinery. The San Antonio refinery expects to receive deliveries of at least 10,000 bpd of crude oil through the KNPS-Elmendorf terminal supply route once the line comes into service during the fourth quarter 2014.

As a result of this agreement, Calumet expects to significantly reduce its cost to transport Eagle Ford crude oil to the San Antonio refinery, where it currently receives crude oil deliveries by truck. Beginning in 2015, Calumet expects to increase the volume of crude oil shipped on the KNPS above 10,000 bpd, which should meaningfully contribute to incremental cost savings.

Quarterly Distribution

On October 22, 2013, the Partnership declared a quarterly cash distribution of USD 0.685 per unit (USD 2.74 on an annualized basis) on all outstanding units, or USD 52.6 million, for the third quarter 2013. The distribution will be paid on November 14, 2013 to unitholders of record as of the close of business on November 4, 2013. This quarterly distribution represents an increase of 10.5% over the third quarter 2012.