May 1 (Reuters) - U.S. refiner PBF Energy ( PBF ) posted

a quarterly loss on Thursday versus year-ago profit, as the fire

at its Martinez refinery in California and other turnaround

activities weighed on refining margins.

U.S. refineries typically undergo seasonal maintenance and

turnaround activities in preparation for the summer driving

season. This temporarily reduces refinery utilization, and the

ability to capture revenue from margins.

"Policy volatility, macroeconomic uncertainty, the Martinez

incident and planned maintenance within PBF's refining system

created a very challenging first-quarter environment," CEO Matt

Lucey said.

A fire had broken out on February 1 at its

156,400-barrel-per-day Martinez refinery, impacting operations.

Limited operations were restored in April, and the remaining

units are likely to restart during the fourth quarter.

The Parsippany, New Jersey-based refiner said first-quarter

loss attributable to the company was $401.8 million, or $3.53

per share, compared with income of $106.6 million, or $0.86 per

share, a year earlier.

PBF Energy ( PBF ) said its consolidated gross refining margin was a

loss of $6.39 per barrel in the first quarter, compared with

$2.68 per barrel it earned a year earlier.

The company said its crude oil and feedstocks throughput in

the reported quarter fell to 730,400 barrels of oil per day from

897,400 bpd a year earlier.

On an adjusted basis, the company posted a loss of $3.09 per

share in the fourth quarter, compared with estimates of a loss

of $3.12 according to data compiled by LSEG.