Oil Refineries Announces Malfunction in a Utilities Unit

HAIFA, Israel, May 29, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

Oil Refineries Ltd. (TASE: ORL.TA) (hereinafter "the Company,""ORL"), Israel's largest integrated refining and petrochemical group, announced yesterday the emergence of a malfunction in one of the plant's utilities unit.  As a result, the manufacturing output of some of the Company's refining sector's units has been reduced.  

ORL has invited foreign experts, who recently arrived, in order to examine the problem and recommend a treatment method.  The Company is continuously working to fix the problem and return the above facility to be fully operational as soon as possible. As of the reporting date, the Company estimates that the problem will be resolved around the middle of June.

The Company's assessments at this stage, are that the reduced refining output will impact the net profit with a reduction of $11 million.

The above noted regarding repair of the malfunction and estimates of net income impact includes forward-looking statements.  The repair time estimated depends, in part, on the production rate of foreign manufacturers and the time it will take to repair the malfunction.  This estimate is based on the professional assessment of both the Company's internal and external experts regarding the necessary corrective measures and time needed to repair the malfunction.  At the same time the extent of the impact on earnings is subject to estimates of the Company regarding margins and the duration of repairing the malfunction. Therefore, there is no certainty that the Company's estimates regarding the time it will take to repair the malfunction or its impact on earnings, will be as stated. Should the repair take substantially more time beyond the Company's estimates, it could have a material adverse impact on the profitability of the company.

About Oil Refineries Ltd.

Oil Refineries Ltd. (ORL), located in the bay area of the city of Haifa, operates Israel's largest integrated refining and petrochemical group. It is one of the leading refineries in the Eastern Mediterranean area and integrates, on-site, petrochemical businesses. ORL runs sophisticated and state-of-the-art industrial facilities with a refining capacity of 9.8 million tons of crude oil per year and a Nelson Complexity Index of 9, providing a variety of quality products used in industrial operation, transportation, private consumption, agriculture and infrastructure. Besides production of fuels, the company produces in its wholly owned subsidiaries Polymers (through Carmel Olefins Ltd), Aromatics (through Gadiv Petrochemical Industries Ltd), and Lube-Oils (through Haifa Basic Oils Ltd). The Company's shares are listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange under the ticker ORL. For additional information please visit http://www.orl.co.il.

ORL is controlled by the Israel Corporation Ltd. and Israel Petrochemical Enterprises Ltd., both public companies whose shares are traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.

The above noted in this release includes forward-looking statements based on Company data, as well as Company plans and estimations based on this data. The activity, results and other data may be substantially different in reality given uncertainty and various risks, including those discussed under risk factors in the Company's financial statements and Director's report

Company Contact:
Rony Solonicof
Chief Economist and Head of Investor Relations
Tel. +972-4-878-8152
Contact IREn@orl.co.il

Investor Relations Contact:
Ehud Helft / Porat Saar
CCG Israel
Tel. (US) +1-646-233-2161 / (Int.) +972-52-776-3687
info@ccgisrael.com