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Nov 1 (Reuters) – Marathon Petroleum (MPC.N) and Phillips 66 (PSX.N) posted quarterly profits which cruised past Wall Street estimates on Tuesday, becoming the latest U.S. refiners to benefit from robust fuel demand and margins amid tight supplies.
U.S. refiners are posting strong profits with refineries running at record levels this year, strong export demand amid a squeezed supply due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and plant closings.
The sector has, however, drawn criticism from President Joe Biden, who said refiners were putting profits ahead of consumers and urged them to expand capacity.
Shares of Marathon rose 1.3% pre-market to $115.10, while Phillips 66 was up 1% at $105.25.
Top bosses of both refiners said market environment continues to be favorable and product demand remains strong.
Marathon, the largest U.S. refiner by capacity, said crude capacity utilization in the third quarter was about 98%, resulting in total throughput of 3 million barrels per day (bpd), which was 7% higher than a year earlier.
For the current quarter, the company expects refinery throughput to be 2.9 million bpd.
Amid the bumper results, Marathon also increased its dividend by 30% to 75 cents per share on Tuesday.
Its refining and marketing margin doubled to $30.21 per barrel for the reported quarter compared with a year earlier.
Mirroring similar gains, rival Phillips 66’s realized refining margins tripled in the July-September quarter to $26.58 per barrel.
Phillips said it returned $1.2 billion through share repurchases and dividends during the quarter.
On an adjusted basis, Marathon reported a profit of $7.81 per share, beating average analysts’ estimate of $7.07 per share, according to Refinitiv data.
Phillips 66’s adjusted profit of $6.46 per share smashed estimates of $5.04.
Rival Valero Energy (VLO.N), which also beat profit estimates on strong margins last week, said it continues to maximize refining utilization.
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