Marathon Petroleum profit soars on strong fuel demand

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Easing COVID-19 curbs and a travel boom have helped fuel demand near pre-pandemic levels this year, while Western sanctions against Russia over the Ukraine invasion have tightened an already-supplied market.

Refining capacity has especially been low because several less profitable operations were forced to close in the past two years due to the COVID-driven demand drop and a shift towards the production of cleaner fuels.

Marathon’s refining and marketing margins rose to $37.54 per barrel in the second quarter ended June 30, from $12.45 per barrel year earlier.

Adjusted income was $5.69 billion, or $10.61 per share, compared with $437 million, or 67 cents per share, a year earlier. The year-ago quarter had benefited from a $11.68 billion gain on the sale of the Speedway unit.