Cheap Oil Proves a Boon to Exxon, Chevron Refineries
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The cheapest crude in 2 1/2 years has the world’s two biggest oil producers glad they held onto their refineries when rivals were shunning the business.
Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. surprised investors and analysts with higher quarterly profits as slumping crude prices made it cheaper to manufacture gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. The results showed the benefit of the so-called integrated model pioneered by John D. Rockefeller in the late 19th century that combined oil fields with refineries to squeeze more value from each barrel, said Brian Youngberg, an analyst at Edward Jones in St. Louis.