OREANDA-NEWS. May 15, 2013. Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE: MPC) today reported first-quarter earnings of USD 725 million, or USD 2.17 per diluted share, compared with USD 596 million, or USD 1.70 per diluted share, in the first quarter of 2012.

"Our performance this quarter reflects in large part the strategic expansion and optimization of our refining system along with favorable market conditions," said MPC President and Chief Executive Officer Gary R. Heminger. The first quarter of 2013 marks the first full quarter since completion of MPC's Detroit Heavy Oil Upgrade Project (DHOUP). In addition, MPC finalized the acquisition of the Galveston Bay refinery and related assets on Feb. 1.

Heminger highlighted the performance of the Detroit refinery, saying, "Since bringing the new units online and quickly reaching the design capacity, the DHOUP expansion has provided our system with greater flexibility to refine larger volumes of price-advantaged crudes, including Canadian heavy."

"Our Galveston Bay refinery is well positioned on the Texas Gulf Coast to process growing supplies of North American crude oil," Heminger added. "With its array of complex processing units, we continue to be enthusiastic about our prospects to enhance margins and further leverage dynamic market trends through this strategic acquisition."

Heminger also noted that Speedway had a strong quarter, primarily due to higher fuel margins and additional revenue from stores acquired last year.

MPC continues to balance investments in the business with returning capital to shareholders.  During the first quarter, the company returned USD 547 million to shareholders through share repurchases and the payment of USD 116 million of dividends. At the end of the first quarter, a total of USD 2.2 billion remained under an existing share repurchase authorization.

As MPLX LP (MPLX) announced today, it will acquire an additional 5 percent interest in MPLX Pipe Line Holdings LP from a subsidiary of MPC for USD 100 million on May 1. This will bring MPLX's interest to 56 percent from the 51 percent interest it held since its initial public offering (IPO) in October 2012. Heminger noted this is the first drop-down following the IPO and said this transaction, and the increase in MPLX's quarterly distribution announced earlier today, demonstrate MPC's commitment to support the growth of MPLX.