Marathon earnings spike to $903M in big third quarter, Speedway flat

Enon-based Speedway reported earnings of $209 million in the third quarter. Staff photo

Enon-based Speedway reported earnings of $209 million in the third quarter. Staff photo

Marathon Petroleum Corp. saw its earnings climb more than 500 percent compared to the same time last year, due in part to a big boost from the company’s refining and marketing segment and stable earnings from the company’s Enon-based Speedway retail chain.

The Findlay-based company reported third-quarter earnings of $903 million. Last year Marathon reported earnings of $145 million. Speedway’s income for this quarter was $209 million, flat compared to the same time last year.

RELATED: Enon-based Speedway hits near record earnings of $239M

Marathon’s refining and marketing segment reported income of about $1.1 billion, an $845 million increase compared to the third quarter last year.

Marathon's board's announced earlier in the quarter it would keep the Enon-based Speedway convenience store chain and not spin it off as a separate business. The board had been reviewing a proposal that would have spun off the Speedway chain as a separate entity after a recommendation from one of the company's largest shareholders.

DETAILS: Speedway signs deal with travel plaza giant

Speedway’s results for the quarter validated the board’s decision, said Gary Heminger, Marathon’s CEO.

“Speedway continues to deliver top-tier operational and and financial performance and has significant opportunities for growth over the long term,” Heminger said. “This performance, and its contribution to MPC, is further validation of Speedway’s importance to our integrated model and its ability to generate substantial returns for our shareholders. We will continue to focus resources and capital to Speedway to derive additional value over the long term.”

MORE: Hospital top Clark County employer, reflects statewide trend

Speedway’s corporate headquarters is based in Enon, and the company is one of Clark County’s largest employers with about 1,350 workers locally and about 33,820 nationally.

Heminger credited employees at the company for continuing operations under difficult conditions related to Hurricane Harvey.

MORE BUSINESS NEWS: Silfex buys Springfield manufacturing plant for $11M, adding 400 jobs

“During Hurricane Harvey our system did not experience material flooding or damage, but we did operate at a reduced rate at our Galveston Bay refinery for a few days to enable pipelines, marine vessels and other logistics assets to resume normal operation,” Heminger said. “After the storm passed our team resumed normal refinery production rates rapidly and restarted critical logistics infrastructure positioning MPC as the first to resume dock shipments to a market in need of supply for recovery efforts.”

About the Author