(Reuters] -Marathon Petroleum Corp beat quarterly profits estimates on Tuesday because a rebound fuel consumption helped to tide the U.S.’s largest refiner over the surging price of.

Marathon’s performance was a result of strong earnings by other energy companies.

PBF, the U.S.’s first major refiner, beat analysts’ expectations. PBF was also the first to announce quarterly earnings. PBF stands for gasoline and distillate use in top consumers, as the pandemic-driven weakness is overcome and the average of five years returns to normal.

Marathon’s quarter-end refining, marketing margin averaged $14.51/barrel, as compared to $8.28/barrel for the same time last year.

Matthew Blair, an analyst at Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co (TPH) said good margins as well as cost control led to a small quarterly beat for Marathon, adding “each segment performed better than expected”.

Marathon’s total output, which is the crude processing rate, increased to 2.8 Million barrels per hour (bpd), from 2.5 BPD last year.

Refinery in Findlay, Ohio expects 4.79 bpd for the fourth quarter.

Additionally, the company stated it was exploring strategic alternatives that could include selling its Kenai refinery, 68,000 bpd, near Anchorage in Alaska.

The adjusted net earnings of the company stood at $464million or 73 cents per diluted share for the three-month period ending Sept. 30. That compares to a loss in 2016 of $649million or 1 per diluted share.

Refinitiv IBES data shows that analysts have an average estimate of a profit at 71 cents per shares.