Just how much are refineries making these days?

It should come as no surprise to anyone that times are good for the major refineries these days, but just how good are times? Simply put, things are great. According to a report that I ran across today, refineries are currently pulling in a profit of $30 for every barrel of oil that they use to produce gasoline

This is the highest profit that refineries have seen since back in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina reeked havoc on the market. With the national average of gasoline prices above $3 a barrel there are some major bucks being made these days by the companies in the gasoline refining business.

To put it into perspective, during the recent first quarter, major producers of gasoline in the U.S. earned about $10 billion from their refining operations, up 50% from the same time last year. What about this current quarter? You guessed it, analysts are expecting that this quarter will see even higher earnings as gasoline prices continue to remain at record levels.

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