NEW YORK—U.S. refiners are girding for a painful slate of fourth-quarter earnings, reflecting the pressure of rising crude prices, weak demand due to renewed COVID-19 travel restrictions, and higher costs of associated with blending of renewable fuels into their products. Seven U.S. independent refiners are projected to post an average earnings-per-share loss of $1.51, down from a loss of $1.06 in the third quarter of 2020, according to IBES data from Refinitiv. Both Credit Suisse and Tudor Pickering Holt cut lowered the price estimates of every U.S. independent refiner for the fourth quarter. “[This] would mark the weakest quarter of the year,” said Matthew Blair, analyst at Tudor Pickering Holt and Co. In the fourth quarter, independent refiners including Marathon Petroleum, Valero Energy, and Phillips 66 coped with uneven demand due to a resurgence of coronavirus cases worldwide. Consumption of liquid fuels globally is estimated to have fallen by 9 …