FINDLAY — Marathon Petroleum Corp. remained profitable in the year’s third quarter, though lower profit margins on the company’s refined products such as gasoline significantly cut into the Findlay company’s earnings.

Marathon said today it earned $145 million, or 27 cents a share, on sales of $16.6 billion in the third quarter. Last year, the company reported earnings of $948 million, or $1.76 a share, on sales of $18.7 billion.

In the refining segment, Marathon said its gross per-barrel margin fell by more than 37 percent from last year. Officials said that was primarily because of lower price realizations and lower crack spreads — the difference between what refiners pay for crude oil and the prices at which they’re able to sell the refined products they make.

Profits were also hit by a $267 million writedown on the cancellation of Enbridge Inc.’s Sandpiper Pipeline project, which would have moved crude oil from North Dakota to Wisconsin. Marathon was an investor.

Marathon also announced today it is evaluating options with MPLX, a wholly owned pipeline subsidiary, that could increase shareholder return. 

First Published October 27, 2016, 2:14 p.m.