Marathon (NYSE:MRI), Holly (NYSE:HOC) Upgraded to "Buy" on Strong Refinery Margins

While Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB) believes the refining industry needs to be shrunk in the U.S., there is good news for companies like Marathon (NYSE:MRI) and Holly (NYSE:HOC) serving in that capacity, as margins are up and earnings will follow as a result.

Both companies were upgraded to "Buy" on enhanced margins.

Deutsche Bank said, "Demand is weak and expected to never attain its previous peaks; but more refining capacity has been added. The need is to retire refineries, a slow and painful aging process for a twilight industry. However in this note we list the many positive factors that have driven US refining margins, particularly in the MidCon, towards the upper end of the 2000-2010 range. Long MidCon: Raise Marathon to BUY, Holly to BUY, re-iterate ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) BUY, Frontier (NYSE:FTO) BUY, CVR Energy (NYSE:CVI) BUY."

It seems Deutsche is wrong concerning oil refinery capacity, which has caused problems in the past in the U.S. when a number of them were shut down.

Exxon (NYSE:XOM) May Sell Japanese Gas Stations

Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE:XOM) is reportedly thinking about selling some gas stations on the Japanese island of Kyushu, among the main islands of the country, according to the Nikkei.

The company said, "Exxon is looking into new measures such as changing the ownership of service stations there."

Even so, Exxon says they will keep on supporting its retail operations in Japan.

The Nikkei also recently reported Exxon is considering cutting back on oil-refining capacity in Japan by close to 20 percent, based on slowing demand.

Exxon has responded to some reports which asserted they were leaving the Japanese market altogether, which the oil giant says isn't the case.