Refiners Awash in Shale Oil Offer 10 Times Exxon Returns: Energy

Gasoline refiners, shunned by investors because of falling demand and rising regulation, now count Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and billionaire Carl Icahn among shareholders as lower oil prices promise wider returns for fuel makers.

U.S. refiners such as Valero Energy Corp. have delivered 10 times the returns of Exxon Mobil Corp., gaining an average 43 percent to Exxon’s 4.2 percent and outperforming every other energy sector in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index. Gushing shale wells from North Dakota to the U.S.-Mexico border have lowered costs and more than doubled profit margins on gasoline and diesel production.