Refiner Marathon Petroleum has reported its highest quarterly profit in four years and topped analysts’ profit estimates, as prolonged disruptions to crude supplies through the Strait of Hormuz lifted refining margins.
Refining margins for gasoline, diesel and jet fuel soared after the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz for months disrupted crude flows to refiners. Repeated Iranian attacks on refineries across the Middle East further squeezed fuel supplies.
Marathon’s results follow rivals Valero Energy and HF Sinclair also reporting their highest quarterly profits since 2022.
Marathon’s quarterly refining and marketing margin doubled to $36.33 per barrel from a year ago.
The company’s crude capacity utilisation was 94%, resulting in total throughput of 2.9 million barrels per day (bpd) for the second quarter. This compares with last year’s 97% utilisation and total throughput of 3.1 million bpd.
Capacity utilisation is a measure of how much of a refinery’s processing capacity is being used.
For the third quarter, Marathon expects total refinery throughput of 3 million bpd.
The company’s renewable diesel unit posted adjusted core profit of $258m in the second quarter compared to a loss of $19m a year ago, helped by stronger margins, higher throughputs and improved regulatory credit values.
Renewable fuels, which have weighed on US refiners’ earnings for years, have recently become a stronger profit contributor as government biofuel mandates boosted demand and higher diesel prices linked to the Middle East conflict improved margins.
The top US refiner posted adjusted profit of $17.73 per share for the three months ended June 30, compared to average analysts’ estimate of $13.73 per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.
