Petrom Bucuresti (SNP), the largest Romanian company, posted net profit worth 661 million RON (204 million euros) in the third quarter of the year, up 16 percent against the same time last year, and up 30 percent against the second quarter due to an increase in oil prices on international markets.

The company's turnover increased against the previous quarter, however, at 3.238 billion RON, it is down 4 percent against the same period in 2006.

"Results in the third quarter are significantly better than those seen in the second quarter, due to the record level of the price of oil. The company is still going through a full restructuring process, and the environment in which we are performing our activity has had a negative impact on our nine-month results, causing a decline against the same time last year. However, the results have so far matched the company's forecast for this year," said Mariana Gheorghe, Petrom's chief executive officer.

Nine months into the year, Petrom reported net profit worth 1.548 billion RON (469 million euros), down 22 percent against the same period in 2006, amid a turnover worth 8.67 billion RON (2.62 billion euros), a 10 percent decline.

Petrom representatives estimate oil prices will remain high, which could potentially aid exploration and production activities, but put pressure on refining margins.

The operating income derived from exploration and production activities stood at 2.07 billion RON (629 million euros) in the first nine months of the year, down 31 percent against the same time in 2006, due to the strengthening of the RON against the American dollar, as well as to investments worth 1.61 billion RON (489 million euros) - three times as high against the same period in 2006.

The refining and marketing segment generated operating losses worth 591 million RON (179 million euros) in the first nine