Four U.S. refiners posted a sixth consecutive weekly gain on Friday, extending a rally that has lifted their shares by roughly one-third to more than 40% since early August. Marathon Petroleum Corp. led the group for the week, rising 7.1% to $424.07 and gaining 42% over six weeks. HF Sinclair Corp. climbed 7.5% to $115.95, Valero Energy Corp. added 5.8% to $413.09, and Phillips 66 rose 5.4% to $273.42. HF Sinclair and Marathon have each advanced about 43% over the six-week period, while the VanEck Oil Refiners ETF gained 19%. The rally has come despite crude oil trading about $28 a barrel below its 2022 level, because the U.S. ultra-low sulfur diesel crack spread (the margin from refining crude into diesel) remains above $100 a barrel. A drone strike on pumping stations along Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline pushed the national average diesel price above $6.30 a gallon, exceeding the previous record of $5.901 set Sept. 8, while global distillate inventories were already low. Second-quarter results showed the strength of the margins: Marathon's refining and marketing margin rose to $36.33 a barrel from $17.58 a year earlier, and Valero's realized refining margin roughly doubled year over year. The companies returned more than $5 billion to shareholders through buybacks and dividends during the quarter. Goldman Sachs forecasts U.S. diesel refining profits will remain near $63 a barrel into 2027, below current records but about three times a normal mid-cycle margin.