Marathon Petroleum (NYSE: MPC), the biggest U.S. refiner by volumes, on Tuesday reported a loss for the first quarter as weak refining margins continued to depress profits and high turnaround activity limited the upside from margins and sales revenues.
Marathon Petroleum booked a net loss of $74 million, or $0.24 per diluted share, for the first quarter of 2025, compared with net income of $937 million, or $2.58 per diluted share, for the first quarter of 2024.
Marathon Petroleum attributed the loss “mainly due to the execution of the second largest planned maintenance quarter in MPC history.”
Planned maintenance is typical for the first quarter, with refiners doing turnaround activity in preparation for the coming peak summer driving season.
The major maintenance works and the lower refining margins led to a loss at Marathon Petroleum in Q1, which was nevertheless half compared to the $0.54 per-share loss expected by the analyst consensus.
Refining margins in North America have improved from the lows in the fourth quarter of 2024, amid resilient product demand and downtime at many North American refineries, but margins are still well below the record-highs seen in 2022 and 2023.
For Marathon Petroleum, they were also lower in the first quarter of the year compared to the same period a year ago.
MPC’s refining & marketing margin was $13.38 per barrel for the first quarter of 2025, down from $19.35 per barrel for the first quarter of 2024. Crude capacity utilization was at 89%, resulting in total throughput of 2.8 million barrels per day (bpd) for the first quarter of 2025.
As in the fourth quarter of 2024, Marathon Petroleum had a good Q1 quarter in its midstream business, whose strength supported the corporation’s $2.0 billion of adjusted EBITDA.
“For our refining business, we are positioned to meet summer demand as seasonal trends are expected to improve margins and we remain constructive on its long-term outlook,” president and CEO Maryann Mannen said.
“We believe we are positioned over time to deliver peer-leading capital returns.”
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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