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During a rare meeting with local reporters on Wednesday, Marathon officials in Catlettsburg said they can't control the price per gallon, while admitting the recent wave of low per gallon costs is the result of changes in consumer demand.
The current price for unleaded gasoline actually costs consumers less than it takes for the refinery to make the stuff, according to Catlettsburg Refinery Manager Jim Cantrell.
"Consumers' driving and spending habits changed at $4 per gallon. Prices have dropped by more than half, but the volume of demand hasn't returned. There has been a 3 to 4 percent decrease in demand and that has driven the price down," Cantrell said, noting demand for diesel fuel "keeps refinery economics profitable."
The local refinery operation, one of the largest in the nation and supplying roughly 2 percent of the nation's fuel needs, has a rich history. Despite being wholly owned and operated by Marathon since 2005, Cantrell said he doesn't get too upset when people still refer to the operation by the old title.
"Just like AK Steel will always be Armco, this place will always be Ashland Oil," he said.
The refinery has been in operation at the same site near the intersection of U.S. 23 and Interstate 64 since the 1920s when a Swiss firm began doing business there making what would be considered an "unsophisticated" fuel by today's standards. The company later hired local high school namesake Paul Blazer and more than doubled in size during World War II with production of high-octane fuels to power the nation's military aircraft.
With headquarters in Houston, Marathon is the fourth largest U.S.-based integrated oil and gas company, as well as the fifth largest refiner in the country.
The company also operates the largest private inland liquid fleet and the third largest tank barge fleet in the country. The local refinery uses the Ohio River as a conduit for the bulk of fuels produced locally and its marine organization is a three-time winner of the U.S. Coast Guard's William M. Benkert Environmental Award for Excellence.
TIM PRESTON can be reached at tpreston@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2651.
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