Marathon Petroleum

Marathon Petroleum Corporation,  is a U.S. based oil refining, marketing, and pipeline transport company. The company was formed as a subsidiary on September 1, 2005, from the former Marathon Ashland Petroleum, LLC, and is based in Findlay, Ohio.  Marathon Petroleum operated as a subsidiary of the Marathon Oil Corporation until July 1, 2011.



History


Marathon Gas Station in Long Grove, IL
Marathon Ashland Petroleum, LLC was a US based petroleum corporation, formed in 1998 from a merger of the downstream operations of Ashland, Inc., and Marathon Oil. Its corporate headquarters were in Findlay. Marathon owned 62% percent and Ashland owned 38% of this venture. 
On September 1, 2001, Marathon formed Pilot Travel Centers, LLC (PTC) in a joint venture with Pilot Corporation. Each company owned 50% of PTC. In 2008 Marathon Petroleum Company, LLC sold their ownership of the company to Pilot.
The Speedway SuperAmerica chain of convenience stores was a subsidiary of this now-defunct company. In addition, Marathon Ashland Petroleum owned seven refineries and a number of other pipelines. Following Ashland shareholder and debt-holder approval, the company became fully owned by Marathon Oil on June 30, 2005.  The company was renamed Marathon Petroleum Company on September 1, 2005.
In 2006, Marathon began using STP-branded additives in its gasoline, likely to compete with Chevron's popular Techron additive.
On January 13, 2011, Marathon Oil Company announced it would separate completely from Marathon Petroleum Company, creating 2 independent entities. As a result, Marathon Petroleum Company exists as an independent downstream oil company, with focus on refining, pipeline, and marketing. The split was expected by Marathon executives to allow Marathon Petroleum Company to focus more directly on refining, pipeline and marketing portfolio enrichment. The spin-off was completed on July 1, 2011.




Operations


Marathon maintains refineries in Robinson, Illinois; Canton, Ohio; Detroit, Michigan; Garyville, Louisiana; Catlettsburg, Kentucky; and Texas City, Texas. The refinery in St. Paul Park, Minnesota was recently sold as the Garyville Major Expansion project has made this refinery obsolete.
On July 29, 2010, The Pantry, Inc., operator of Kangaroo Express stores and the leading independently operated convenience store chain in the southeastern United States, announced a fuel supply agreement with Marathon Petroleum. Under the terms of the agreement, Marathon will supply fuel to more than 600 Pantry locations, with a joint branding relationship at approximately 285 of these sites. The store and fuel forecourt re-branding was initially introduced in Charlotte, North Carolina. Throughout the remainder of 2010, all joint brand location conversions were completed across a seven-state southeastern marketing region.