- Comparable operating profit increased and was EUR 199 million in the third quarter The third quarter in brief: - Strong comparable operating profit of EUR 199 million (Q3/07: 159 million) - Operating profit of EUR 44 million (Q3/07: 180 million), depressed by an inventory loss of EUR 180 million due to rapidly falling oil prices - Cash flow from operations of EUR -175 million (Q3/07: -32 million) due to temporarily high receivables at the end of the quarter - Solid financial position; no major refinancing needs over the short or medium term, nor credit losses with counterparty banks - Total refining margin reached a new record of USD 13.54 /bbl (Q3/07: 10.20) - Maintenance work on the Porvoo diesel production line 4 was carried out as planned and the line has been operating normally since early October Jarmo Honkamaa, Deputy CEO: "We are satisfied with our strong results in what was a really exceptional environment in the third quarter.

A commitment to sustainable development is a prerequisite to being a supplier of biofuel raw materials to Neste Oil, and the company actively supports efforts aimed at incorporating the principles of sustainable development into legislation and monitoring procedures covering all buyers and producers of organic raw materials.

Finnish refiner Neste Oil has estimated the costs in lost production and repairs from a fire at its new diesel production line to be around E40 million. The fire broke out in early April due to a leak in the heat exchanger as the refiner was shutting the line down for maintenance.

A planned short maintenance turnaround at Neste Oil's new diesel line, commissioned at the Porvoo refinery this summer, has continued longer than expected. The outage began at the end of September. Initially there were problems with contamination of heat exchangers.

MOSCOW. Sept 12 (Interfax) The Voice of Russia radio station has started broadcasting in Finland on the FM band.