UPDATE 2-Caltex Q1 falls 34 pct, more shutdowns in H2

(Adds details of planned shutdown, updates shares)

By Fayen Wong

PERTH, May 8 (Reuters) - Oil refiner Caltex Australia Ltd (CTX.AX) on Thursday posted a 34 percent drop in first-quarter earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) as refinery shutdowns affected its operations, knocking its shares down 3.5 percent.

Caltex said it planned two more shutdowns at its 105,000 barrel per day (bpd) Lytton refinery in Queensland state in the second half, but added it was on track to produce about 10 billion litres of transport fuels this year.

Unaudited first-quarter EBIT was A$131 million ($123.6 million), A$67 million lower than in the same 2007 period.

Chief Financial Officer Simon Hepworth said in a statement that earnings had been hit by a number of unplanned outages at its Kurnell and Lytton refineries in February and March, as well as a stronger Australian dollar that offset gains made in U.S. dollar margins.

Sydney-based Caltex said the first planned maintenance shutdown at Lytton was for work on one of the refinery's two crude distillation units, while the second was for maintenance on the diesel hydrotreater.

Despite the recent shutdowns, Caltex said it was on track to meet its 2008 production target and saw output of transport fuels in the "mid-to-upper 10 billion litre range", Hepworth said.

Caltex said in February its 2008 fuel production target was expected to be in line with last year's level of 10.9 billion litres.

Caltex shares were down 3.5 percent at A$12.80 by 0250 GMT, lagging a 1.5 percent gain on the broader energy index .AXEJ.

Caltex, which keeps an onshore inventory of about 8-9 million barrels of crude, said its working capital had doubled since January 2007 on the back of soaring oil prices, which struck a new record high $123.87 a barrel on Wednesday.

"Reflecting this environment, and also the current credit situation, we will retain gearing relative to average debt levels of below 25 percent," Hepworth said. ($1=A$1.06) (Reporting by Fayen Wong; Editing by James Thornhill & Ian Geoghegan)