Mad Money

Marathon CEO to Cramer: ‘Low oil is a good thing’

MPC CEO: Oil decline helped company's demand
VIDEO8:4608:46
MPC CEO: Oil decline helped company's demand

Believe it or not, there are areas within the oil patch that actually profit from low oil prices.

What? That's crazy! Investors thought the whole world would crumble if oil goes lower, right? Well, that's apparently not the case, as Jim Cramer explained.

Not only does money saved at the pump translate as a benefit to the consumer's pocket, it also is good for an oil refiner such as Marathon Petroleum.

Cramer sat down with Marathon Petroleum Corp CEO Gary Heminger to get his take on what low oil prices could mean for the market and the consumer.

"When I look at what's happening on a same-store basis through our retail chains, we are up 1 percent on same-store basis since gasoline prices started coming below $3," Heminger said. This coincides with Cramer's thesis that oil could be bottoming because there is demand.

Marathon continues to reap the benefits of low oil, as shown when they reported a 13-cent earnings beat from a $2.28 basis.




Detroit refinery of the Marathon Petroleum Corp.
Source: Marathon Petroleum Corp.

Heminger speculated that with lower oil prices, this will increase retail of SUVs as well. After all, people don't want to carpool. They want to be alone in their car and listen to the radio independently on the way to work.

"When I go back and look at gasoline when it was around $4, discretionary driving had really been on the decline. But since it has dropped below $3, I think we could see $2.50 before this is over … When you look at the sales of SUV's reported, Chrysler had a 36 percent increase last month. That is what the consumer wants," said Heminger.

Cramer continued to speculate the future of oil, and what is causing the rapid decline in prices. Could the Saudis be behind all of this?

The CEO confirmed that he does not believe there is a conspiracy, but he thinks the Saudis will defend their market share.

"The Saudis are the largest global supplier. They clearly are the swing barrel of the world. When you look at their cost per barrel for production versus the U.S. production and Canadian production, there's no doubt they are the swing barrel," added Heminger.

Marathon is not crying over low oil prices, and Heminger confirmed that the consumer shouldn't either. We should appreciate the extra money in our pockets, while we still can.



Call Cramer: 1-800-743-CNBC

Questions for Cramer? madmoney@cnbc.com

Questions, comments, suggestions for the "Mad Money" website? madcap@cnbc.com