* Q2 profit $32 million vs loss of $8 million
* Refining margin reaches $4.6 per barrel
JERUSALEM, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Israel's Oil Refineries said on Monday it swung to a quarterly net profit, boosted by higher revenue and financing income.
Oil Refineries, Israel's biggest refinery and petrochemical group, posted second-quarter net profit of $32 million compared with a loss of $8 million a year earlier.
Revenue rose to $1.88 billion from $1.21 billion. It had financing income of $4 million versus a financing expense of $6 million a year earlier.
The company said its adjusted refining margin was $4.6 per barrel, up 31 percent from the average Mediterranean Ural Cracking Margin quoted by Reuters of $3.5. The margin was $2.5 a barrel in the second quarter of 2009.
Oil Refineries noted volatility of crude oil prices in the April-June period.
It said significant progress was made in connecting a natural gas pipeline to the company's facilities. The project, which is expected to be completed by the end of the year, will allow Oil Refineries to run on natural gas and yield operational efficiencies.
Oil Refineries is also building a hydrocracker that is expected to be operational in mid-2012.
"With the arrival of the natural gas pipeline, along with the establishment of the hydrocracker ... the company will become a leading player ... and will be able to leverage additional opportunities in global markets," Chief Executive Yashar Ben Mordechai said in a statement. (Reporting by Steven Scheer; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)