Marathon Petroleum Considering Other Spinoff Opportunities

FORT LEE, N.J. -- Having already spun off its transportation division, MPLX LP, Marathon Petroleum Corp. will consider a spinoff of its Speedway LLC convenience store and gas station business, President and CEO Gary Heminger said last night on CNBC's "Mad Money" program.

"We have looked at this and will continue to look at this," Heminger told "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer. "With our Speedway business, what really makes sense to us, though, is that committed volume. … We can use our Speedway business and the Marathon brand using our transportation system. It provides us tremendous flexibility to be able to move that product every day on a ratable basis."

Heminger was responding to a question from Cramer, who likened a potential Speedway spinoff to CST Brands Inc., the chain of more than 1,000 convenience stores and gas stations that Valero Energy Corp. spun off last year.

"CST is a terrific brand of gas stations," said Cramer. "You have a huge chain of 1,470 convenience stores. Might that not be worth $2 billion and you should give it to the shareholders?"

Cramer also asked Heminger if Findlay, Ohio-based Marathon Petroleum would consider spinning off its wholesale fuels business as a master limited partnership (MLP), similar to what Susser Holdings Corp. -- operator of Stripes and Sac-and-Pac locations -- did recently with Susser Petroleum Partners LP.

"We have a big wholesale business as well," said Heminger. "However, it's tied to our refining system. We will continue to look at that [as well, though]. The first step was to make an MLP with our transportation business. But we will continue to look at these other drivers into the future."

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