Marathon saw Q3 demand perform better than expected, more work to be done

HOUSTON (ICIS)–US based refined fuels producer Marathon expects continued refinery rationalisation around the world while the coronavirus continues to pressure demand, the company said in its earnings presentation.

While the third quarter saw better than expected demand recovery and falling inventories, Marathon executives said that there is still a lot of work to be done.

“Despite some recovery, global demand for our products and services remains significantly below historical levels, which continues to pressure profitability for both our company and the industry,” said Chief Executive Officer Michael Hennigan.

Marathon added that the diesel market continues to outperform jet fuel, encouraging further blending of jet fuel into the diesel pool.

A vaccine for the coronavirus will also be the most important boost to demand going forward.

The company’s crude capacity utilisation in the third-quarter was 84%, up from 71% in the second quarter.

Marathon forecasts Q4 refinery throughput of 2.48m bbl/day.

The company added that utilisation rates have stabilised a little bit and it has shifted to light sweet crudes while it is looking into medium sour crudes going forward.

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