CVR Energy Inc. (CVI) Business Profile

What it does

CVR Energy is a holding company that makes and markets transportation fuels and, through its interest in CVR Partners, nitrogen fertilizers. Formed in 2006, it is led by Chief Executive Officer Dane Neumann.

Its petroleum business operates refineries in Coffeyville, Kansas, and Wynnewood, Oklahoma. They turn purchased crude oil into gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and other refined products. CVR also gathers and transports crude oil to support the refineries. It sells fuels primarily to businesses such as retailers, railroads, farm cooperatives and other refiners and marketers, rather than through its own retail business.

CVR Partners operates fertilizer facilities in Coffeyville and East Dubuque, Illinois. Its principal products are ammonia and urea ammonium nitrate, a liquid fertilizer known as UAN. These products serve agricultural customers, while ammonia also goes to industrial customers. CVR Energy owned the general partner and approximately 37% of CVR Partners’ outstanding common units as of December 31, 2025.

CVR also had a renewable fuels segment in 2025. That business made renewable diesel from feedstocks such as soybean and corn oil. In December 2025, CVR returned its Wynnewood renewable diesel unit to processing petroleum feedstocks because of unfavorable renewable fuels economics. It retains the option to switch the unit back to renewable diesel.

How it makes money

CVR earns revenue by selling refined fuels and fertilizer products. Its petroleum results depend principally on the difference between the prices of refined products and the cost of crude oil and other feedstocks. The company purchases all the crude oil it refines, so changes in prices between purchase and sale can affect results. Operating expenses and the cost of complying with renewable fuel rules also affect the margin it keeps.

Petroleum bulk sales are typically made at spot market prices, with adjustments based on a regional price differential. Rack sales, delivered by truck or rail to nearby customers or terminals, use posted prices affected by regional competition. Demand for gasoline is generally higher in summer, while diesel demand rises during planting and harvest seasons.

CVR Partners sells UAN mainly for agricultural use and ammonia for agricultural and industrial use. Fertilizer prices respond to global supply and demand, feedstock costs and market conditions. Sales are generally wholesale, under purchase orders or contracts with fixed prices and terms of less than one year. The fertilizer business typically records higher net sales in the first half of the year, during planting season.

Renewable diesel sales and credits contributed to the renewables business before the Wynnewood unit returned to hydrocarbon service. The company can switch the unit back if it has an incentive to do so.

For the second quarter of 2026, CVR reported consolidated net income of $46 million and adjusted EBITDA of $209 million. Those totals include the consolidated fertilizer business, in which other investors also hold interests.

Customers and how it sells

CVR’s refineries and principal fuel markets are in the U.S. mid-continent. Coffeyville products are generally sold in the central mid-continent through truck and rail deliveries to nearby customers and terminals, as well as bulk sales using third-party pipelines. Wynnewood products move by pipeline, railcar and truck primarily to Oklahoma, parts of Arkansas and eastern Missouri. Its connected pipeline system also provides access to Texas and adjoining states.

Petroleum customers include retailers, railroads, farm cooperatives and other refiners and marketers. The segment’s largest customer represented 12% of its net sales for the year ended December 31, 2025.

CVR Partners sells UAN mainly to retailers and distributors serving agriculture. Its ammonia customers include agricultural and industrial buyers. It distributes fertilizer by rail, truck and barge, including through a dock on the Mississippi River. Substantially all products from East Dubuque are shipped within 100 miles of the facility. The fertilizer segment’s top two customers represented 28% of its net sales for the year ended December 31, 2025.

The renewables business generally sold its production under two third-party offtake agreements before the Wynnewood unit changed service.

Suppliers and costs

CVR buys crude oil rather than producing it. Coffeyville can process crude ranging from heavy sour to light sweet grades, while Wynnewood can process grades ranging from medium sour to light sweet. Coffeyville’s crude mix includes domestic mid-continent grades and Canadian medium and heavy sour crude.

The company uses owned, leased and jointly operated gathering assets alongside third-party pipelines and trucking. For the year ended December 31, 2025, its gathering system supplied approximately 67% of Coffeyville’s and 94% of Wynnewood’s crude demand. Crude sourced outside that system also depends on third-party pipelines.

The Coffeyville fertilizer facility uses petroleum coke to make hydrogen for fertilizer production. Its feedstock comes from the adjacent refinery and third parties. East Dubuque uses natural gas purchased from third parties. Feedstock prices, utilities, labor, maintenance and turnaround spending affect operating costs in both businesses.

Refiners also face costs under the Renewable Fuel Standard. CVR’s net renewable identification number expense, excluding the change in its associated liability, was $216 million in the second quarter of 2026. The company continued to recognize Wynnewood’s full obligation while its 2025 exemption petition remained unresolved.

Competitive position

In petroleum, CVR competes on price, supply reliability, product grades and location. Its principal mid-continent refinery competitors include CHS, HF Sinclair, Phillips 66 and Valero. It also competes with traders and refineries outside the region that can reach the market by pipeline. CVR has no retail fuel business and depends on other companies for outlets for its products.

Our reading: The refineries’ locations and gathering system provide a meaningful local cost advantage, but that advantage is limited by competing refineries and pipeline access to the same markets. CVR also says regionally sourced crude usually has a transportation cost advantage, although other crude can sometimes offer better economics despite higher freight costs.

CVR Partners competes with domestic and foreign fertilizer producers, including CF Industries, Nutrien, Koch Fertilizer and LSB Industries. Fertilizer buyers focus principally on delivered price; product availability and service also matter. CF Industries sells more nitrogen fertilizer in the United States than other industry participants.

Our reading: The fertilizer facilities’ proximity to customers and access to feedstocks offer some local protection, but the moat is constrained by commodity pricing and competition from producers with greater resources. The adjacent Coffeyville refinery supplies part of the fertilizer facility’s petroleum coke, while East Dubuque has access to natural gas pipelines and nearby agricultural customers.

Growth opportunities

CVR is pursuing projects to improve production and capture more value from its existing facilities. At Wynnewood, it is replacing an alkylation unit’s catalyst system. The company expects the project to expand the unit by approximately 2,500 bpd, increase premium gasoline production and eliminate hydrofluoric acid inventory at the site. It estimates the investment at $136 million and expects the unit to become operational later in 2027, subject to timing risks.

A separate Wynnewood project may increase distillate production by up to approximately 2,400 bpd. CVR has implemented the first phase of a similar Coffeyville project that could increase distillate production by up to 1,300 bpd. The company also expects the return of Wynnewood’s renewable diesel unit to hydrocarbon service to expand its crude feedstock flexibility.

At CVR Partners, projects have focused on reliability, production and loading capacity. The company expects to complete an East Dubuque expansion during its planned turnaround and believes it should increase ammonia production capacity by approximately 5%. It is also evaluating changes at Coffeyville, including the potential to use natural gas as an alternative to petroleum coke and increase ammonia production; those initiatives remain subject to engineering and cost estimates.

CVR and its controlling shareholder are considering potential strategic transactions, including acquisitions or options involving CVR Partners. There is no assurance that a transaction will occur.

Structural risks

• Commodity margins: Petroleum earnings depend on the spread between fuel selling prices and feedstock costs. Crude price changes between purchase and sale, or a smaller discount on the crude CVR buys, can reduce margins. Fertilizer prices are also volatile and depend on global supply, demand and agricultural conditions.
• Regulation: Environmental and renewable fuel rules can increase operating and capital costs. At the end of the second quarter of 2026, the estimated accrued Renewable Fuel Standard obligation was $408 million; Wynnewood’s 2025 exemption petition remained unresolved.
• Facilities and geography: The refineries serve a relatively concentrated region, and the fertilizer business is exposed to seasonal agricultural demand. Fires, equipment failures, weather or supplier disruptions can interrupt production and may not be fully insured.
• Competition and customers: CVR faces competition for feedstocks and sales, including from companies with greater resources. It does not have long-term minimum purchase contracts with customers; losing a significant customer could affect results.
• Hedging: Crack spread swaps can produce losses when market prices move. CVR recorded an $81 million realized derivative loss in the second quarter of 2026 related to those swaps.

Leadership

Icahn Enterprises and its affiliates owned approximately 70% of CVR Energy’s outstanding common stock as of December 31, 2025.

Bottom line

Our reading

CVR combines regional fuel refining with an ownership interest in a fertilizer producer, rather than a retail fuel network. Our reading: Its local logistics and facility locations support the business, but commodity prices, compliance costs and operating reliability remain central to results. The planned projects can change capacity and product mix, while the renewable diesel reversion shows how economics can alter the use of an existing asset.