Marathon Petroleum Q2 profit tops estimates as costs fall

July 28 (Reuters) – Marathon Petroleum Corp posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit, helped by lower operating costs and robust demand for gasoline during the summer driving season.

Marathon said it also gained from the $1.28 billion acquisition of U.S. natural gas processor MarkWest by its master limited partnership, MPLX LP, in December.

The company’s total cost and expenses fell 19.6 percent in the three months ended June 30.

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However, Marathon said its refining and marketing gross margin fell to $12.82 per barrel from $14.84 in the second quarter, mainly due to lower crack spreads – the difference between the prices of crude oil and refined products.

Net income attributable to Marathon fell to $801 million from $826 million a year earlier, while earnings per share were unchanged at $1.51.

Excluding an impairment charge of $90 million and other items, the company posted a profit of $1.07 per share in the second quarter.

Revenue and other income fell 18.4 percent to $16.79 billion.

Analysts on average were expecting earnings of 97 cents per share on revenue of $16.89 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

(Reporting by Anet Josline Pinto in Bengaluru; Editing by Robin Paxton and Anil D’Silva)