Higher margins boosted earnings for makers of gasoline, diesel Midwest refiners benefited when storm shut Texas facilities When Hurricane Harvey cleared and the floodwaters receded, oil refiners found themselves floating on a sea of cash. That’s the consensus of industry analysts who expect the five largest pure-play refiners to post double-digit profit increases starting on Thursday. Despite the temporary devastation Harvey wrought in the heart of the Western Hemisphere’s refining heartland, most plants escaped long-term damage and were back in action quickly enough to capture swelling margins created by fuel shortages. Refiners in Midwest locations such as Kansas and Illinois — far from the south Texas coast where Harvey roared ashore on Aug. 25 — probably scored even bigger boosts to their bottom lines as facilities closer to the storm shut, triggering price-lifting fuel shortages for hundreds of miles inland, said Ashley Petersen, senior oil market analyst at Stratas […]