U.S. Refiners Benefiting from Oil Price Plunge Even as Plants Slow

America’s biggest fuel makers are taking advantage of plunging oil prices to capture profits while slowing fuel production. Marathon Petroleum Corp., Phillips 66 and Valero Energy Corp. are some of the U.S. refiners that cash in when crude costs fall faster than fuel prices. Some grades of American crude are trading at record discounts to Brent, the international benchmark, opening up huge opportunities for refiners to profit.

“As refiners cut runs to offset weaker demand and global storage starts to fill up, we are witnessing a material widening in differentials for inland and coastal grades,” Manav Gupta, an analyst at Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, wrote in a note to investors on Monday. Widening differentials “have historically favored refiners relative to other energy sub-sectors.”