Marathon Processed Record Crude Volumes in 2Q

Marathon Petroleum Corp processed a record 1.9 million barrels per day of crude oil at its seven U.S. refineries in the second quarter, fueled in part by robust refined product exports, the company's chief executive said on Thursday.

U.S. exports of refined products have been a bright spot in the U.S. refining market this year. CEO Gary Heminger said the flows should continue to support strong refinery runs through the remainder of the year.

"Export markets, which have been important to the high utilization of our refineries, are expected to remain robust," he said on an earnings call.

The company's 459,000 bpd Galveston Bay and 86,000 bpd Texas City refineries are under one management as they continue to merge the facilities, Heminger said. The two plants ran nearly 600,000 bpd in the second quarter, a record, he noted.

The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, or LOOP, the largest privately owned crude terminal in the United States, said this week it is pursuing contracts to export crude from its U.S. Gulf Coast facility.

Marathon is watching the situation, since the company relies on the facility to supply its Gulf Coast refineries.

"We want to work with LOOP to make sure that there is no conflict between its responsibility as an import facility and one as an export facility," the company's senior vice president, C. Michael Palmer, said.

Marathon's quarterly profits missed Wall Street's expectations as higher crude acquisition costs weighed on its refining and marketing margins.

Net income fell 35.7 percent to $515 million, or $1 per share, in the second quarter, from $801 million, or $1.51 per share, a year earlier.

Reporting By Jarrett Renshaw