Item 1. Business
Overview
CVR Energy, Inc. is a diversified holding company formed in September 2006 which is primarily engaged in the petroleum refining and nitrogen fertilizer manufacturing industries through its holdings in CVR Refining, LP (the “Petroleum Segment” or “CVR Refining”) and CVR Partners, LP (the “Nitrogen Fertilizer Segment” or “CVR Partners”). CVR Refining is an independent petroleum refiner and marketer of high value transportation fuels. CVR Partners produces and markets nitrogen fertilizers in the form of UAN and ammonia. As used in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, the terms “CVR Energy”, the “Company”, “we”, “us”, or “our” generally include CVR Refining, CVR Partners, the Company’s publicly traded limited partnership, and their respective subsidiaries, as consolidated subsidiaries of the Company with certain exceptions where there are transactions or obligations between and among CVR Refining, CVR Partners, and CVR Energy, including their subsidiaries. Refer to “Petroleum” and “Nitrogen Fertilizer” below for further details on our two business segments.
Our common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) under the symbol “CVI,” and CVR Partners’ common units are listed on the NYSE under the symbol “UAN.” As of December 31, 2019, Icahn Enterprises L.P. and its affiliates (“IEP”) owned approximately 71% of our outstanding common stock.
As of December 31, 2019, we owned the general partner and approximately 34% of the outstanding common units representing limited partner interests in CVR Partners, with the public owning the remaining outstanding common units of CVR Partners.
On January 17, 2019, the general partner of CVR Refining assigned to the Company its right to purchase all of the issued and outstanding CVR Refining common units not already owned by CVR Refining’s general partner or its affiliates. On January 29, 2019, the Company purchased all remaining CVR Refining common units not already owned by the Company or its affiliates (the “Public Unit Purchase”). In conjunction with the Public Unit Purchase, the Company purchased all CVR Refining common units owned by IEP and its subsidiary, American Entertainment Properties Corporation (“AEP”) (the “Affiliate Unit Purchase,” and together with the Public Unit Purchase, the “CVRR Unit Purchase”). As a result of the CVRR Unit Purchase, CVR Refining’s common units were delisted effective January 29, 2019, and its reporting obligations under Sections 13(a) and 15(d) of the Exchange Act were suspended as of February 8, 2019. Refer to Item 8, Note 1 (“Organization and Nature of Business”) for further discussion of the CVRR Unit Purchase.
Our History
The following graphic depicts the Company’s history and key events that have occurred since the Company’s formation.
Petroleum
Our Petroleum Segment is comprised of the assets and operations of CVR Refining, including two refineries located in Coffeyville, Kansas and Wynnewood, Oklahoma and supporting logistics assets in the region.
Facilities
Coffeyville Refinery - We own a complex full coking medium-sour crude oil refinery in southeast Kansas, approximately 100 miles from Cushing, Oklahoma (“Cushing”) with a name plate crude oil capacity of 132,000 bpd (the “Coffeyville Refinery”). The major operations of the Coffeyville Refinery include fractionation, catalytic cracking, hydrotreating, reforming, coking, isomerization, alkylation, sulfur recovery, and propane and butane recovery operating units. The Coffeyville Refinery benefits from significant refining unit redundancies, which include two crude oil distillation and vacuum towers, three sulfur recovery units, and four hydrotreating units. These redundancies allow the Coffeyville Refinery to continue to receive and process crude oil even if one tower requires maintenance without having to shut down the entire refinery. In addition, the Coffeyville Refinery has a redundant supply of hydrogen pursuant to its feedstock and shared services agreement with a subsidiary of CVR Partners.
Wynnewood Refinery - We own a complex crude oil refinery in Wynnewood, Oklahoma approximately 65 miles south of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and approximately 130 miles from Cushing with a name plate crude oil capacity of 74,500 bpd capable of processing 20,000 bpd of light sour crude oil (the “Wynnewood Refinery” and together with the Coffeyville Refinery, the “Refineries”). The major operations of the Wynnewood Refinery include fractionation, hydrotreating, hydrocracking, reforming, solvent deasphalting, alkylation, sulfur recovery, and propane and butane recovery operating units. Similar to the Coffeyville Refinery, the Wynnewood Refinery benefits from unit redundancies, including two crude oil distillation and vacuum towers and four hydrotreating units.
Throughput by Refinery
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Year Ended December 31, 2019
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(in bpd)
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Coffeyville
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Wynnewood
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Total
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Total crude throughput
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129,878
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73,180
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203,058
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All other feedstock and blendstock
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9,160
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3,753
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12,913
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Total throughput
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139,038
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76,933
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215,971
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Year Ended December 31, 2018
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(in bpd)
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Coffeyville
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Wynnewood
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Total
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Total crude throughput
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124,489
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74,669
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199,158
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All other feedstock and blendstock
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8,369
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5,068
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13,437
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Total throughput
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132,858
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79,737
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212,595
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Production by Refinery
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Year Ended December 31, 2019
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(in bpd)
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Coffeyville
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Wynnewood
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Total
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Gasoline
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71,817
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38,864
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110,681
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Diesel fuels
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57,549
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32,380
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89,929
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Other refined products
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10,383
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3,253
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13,636
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Total production
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139,749
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74,497
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214,246
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Year Ended December 31, 2018
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(in bpd)
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Coffeyville
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Wynnewood
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Total
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Gasoline
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67,091
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40,291
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107,382
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Diesel fuels
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56,307
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33,442
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89,749
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Other refined products
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10,927
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4,066
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14,993
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Total production
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134,325
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77,799
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212,124
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Supply
The Coffeyville Refinery has the capability to process blends of a variety of crude oil ranging from heavy sour to light sweet crude oil. Currently, the Coffeyville Refinery crude oil slate consists of a blend of mid-continent domestic grades and various Canadian medium and heavy sours and other similarly sourced crudes. Other blendstocks include normal butane, natural gasoline, alkylation feeds, naphtha, gas oil, and vacuum tower bottoms. The Wynnewood Refinery has the capability to process blends of a variety of crude oil ranging from medium sour to light sweet crude oil. Isobutane, gasoline components, and normal butane blendstocks are also typically used.
In addition to the use of third-party pipelines, we have an extensive gathering system consisting of logistics assets that are owned, leased, or part of a joint venture operation. These assets include the following:
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As of December 31, 2019
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Pipeline Segment
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Length (miles)
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Capacity (bpd)
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Joint Ventures:
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Midway Pipeline LLC (“Midway JV”) (1)(4)
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100
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120,000
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Enable South Central Pipeline (“Enable JV”) (1)
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26
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115,000
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Owned Pipelines:
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Valley to Hooser 6” (2)
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46
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9,600
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Valley to Hooser 8”
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20
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9,600
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Hooser to Broome 8”
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43
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22,800
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Broome to East Tank Farm 12” (3)
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19
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52,000
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Broome to East Tank Farm 16” (3)
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18
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120,000
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East Tank Farm to Refinery 16” (3)
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2
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160,000
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Shidler to Hooser 4”
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23
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6,500
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Plainville to Phillipsburg 6”
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36
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6,000
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Plainville to Natoma 6”
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10
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6,500
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Cushing to Payson 10” (Red River)
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30
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40,000
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Payson to Enable tie 8” (Red River)
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73
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40,000
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Leased Pipelines:
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Humboldt to Broome 8”
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62
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7,000
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Kelley to Barnsdall 8”
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31
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3,600
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Barnsdall to Caney 8”
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36
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3,600
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(1)CVR Refining owns a 50% interest in the Midway JV and a 40% interest in the Enable JV. CVR Refining has the ability to exercise influence through its participation on the board of directors of each of the Midway JV and the Enable JV and does not serve as the day-to-day operator. We have determined that these entities should not be consolidated and apply the equity method of accounting. Refer to Item 8, Note 3 (“Equity Method Investments”) for further discussion of these investments.
(2)This pipeline is in the process of being taken out of service.
(3)In support of our Coffeyville Refinery, we own and operate a tank storage facility in close proximity to the Coffeyville Refinery (the “East Tank Farm”).
(4)The Midway JV pipeline will have an estimated 150,000 bpd capacity resulting from expanded pumping capacity which is planned to be completed during the Coffeyville Refinery turnaround in the spring of 2020.
For the acquisition of crude oil within close proximity of the Refineries, we operate a fleet of approximately 140 trucks and have contracts with third-party trucking fleets to acquire and deliver crude oil to our pipeline system or directly to the Refineries for consumption or resale. For the year ended December 31, 2019, the gathering system, which includes the pipelines outlined above and our trucking operations, supplied approximately 53% and 85% of the Coffeyville and Wynnewood Refineries’ crude oil demand, respectively. Regionally-sourced crude oils delivered to the Refineries usually have a transportation cost advantage compared to other domestic or international crudes given the Refineries’ proximity to the producing areas. However, sometimes slightly heavier and more sour crudes may offer good economics to the Refineries, including the higher cost of transportation. The regionally-sourced crude oils we purchase are light and sweet enough to allow the Refineries to blend higher percentages of lower cost crude oils, such as heavy Canadian sour, to optimize economics within operational constraints.
Crude oils sourced outside of our gathering system are delivered to Cushing by various third-party pipelines, including the Keystone and Spearhead pipelines on which we can be subject to proration, and subsequently to the Broome Station facility via the Midway JV pipeline. Our current contracted capacity includes the Pony Express and White Cliffs pipelines, respectively. From the Broome Station facility, crude oil is delivered to the Coffeyville Refinery via the Petroleum Segment’s 170,000 bpd proprietary pipeline system. Crude oils are delivered to the Wynnewood Refinery through third-party and joint venture
pipelines and received into storage tanks at terminals located on or near the refinery. We also lease tank storage totaling 2.1 million barrels, including 1.9 million barrels at Cushing.
The Coffeyville Refinery is connected to the mid-continent natural gas liquid commercial hub at Conway, Kansas by the inbound Enterprise Pipeline Blue Line. Natural gas liquid blendstocks such as butanes and natural gasoline are sourced and delivered directly into the refinery. In addition, Coffeyville Refinery’s proximity to Conway provides access to the natural gas liquid and liquid petroleum gas fractionation and storage capabilities.
Through the crude oil and other feedstock supply operations outlined above, and the associated markets available to it, we are able to source and refine crude oils from different locations and of different compositions when it is economically advantageous to do so. The tables below present the total crude throughput by refinery for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018:
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Year Ended December 31, 2019
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(in bpd)
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Coffeyville
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Wynnewood
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Total
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Regional Crude
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49,093
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38
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%
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53,848
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74
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%
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102,941
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51
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%
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WTI
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67,382
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52
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%
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3
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—
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%
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67,385
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33
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%
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WTL
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473
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—
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%
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668
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1
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%
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1,141
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1
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%
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Midland WTI
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3,888
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3
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%
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10,995
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15
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%
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14,883
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7
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%
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Condensate
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4,331
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3
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%
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7,666
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10
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%
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11,997
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6
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%
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Heavy Canadian
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4,711
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4
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%
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—
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—
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%
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4,711
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2
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%
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Total crude throughput
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129,878
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100
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%
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73,180
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100
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%
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203,058
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100
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%
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Year Ended December 31, 2018
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(in bpd)
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Coffeyville
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Wynnewood
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Total
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Regional Crude
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31,350
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25
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%
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54,746
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73
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%
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86,096
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43
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%
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WTI
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66,952
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54
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%
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2,354
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3
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%
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69,306
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35
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%
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Midland WTI
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15,893
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13
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%
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10,332
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14
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%
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26,225
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13
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%
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Condensate
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4,992
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4
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%
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7,237
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10
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%
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12,229
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6
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%
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Heavy Canadian
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5,302
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4
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%
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—
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—
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%
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5,302
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3
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%
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Total crude throughput
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124,489
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100
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%
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74,669
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100
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%
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199,158
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100
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%
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Marketing and Distribution
Our Coffeyville product marketing efforts are focused in the central mid-continent area through rack marketing, which is the supply of product through tanker trucks and railcars directly to customers located in close geographic proximity to the refinery and to customers at terminals on third-party refined products distribution systems; and bulk sales into the mid-continent markets and other destinations utilizing third-party product pipeline networks.
The Wynnewood Refinery ships its finished product via pipeline, railcar, and truck, focusing its efforts in Oklahoma and parts of Arkansas, as well as eastern Missouri. The pipeline system is capable of multi-directional flow, providing access to Texas markets as well as adjoining states with pipeline connections. The Wynnewood Refinery also sells jet fuel to the U.S. Department of Defense via its segregated truck rack.
Customers
Customers for the Refineries’ petroleum products primarily include retailers, railroads, and farm cooperatives and other refiners/marketers in Group 3 of the PADD II region because of their relative proximity to the Refineries and pipeline access. We typically sell bulk products to long-standing customers at spot market prices based on a Group 3 basis differential to prices quoted on the New York Mercantile Exchange (“NYMEX”), which are reported by industry market-related indices such as Platts and Oil Price Information Service (“OPIS”).
Rack sales are at posted prices that are influenced by the competitive forces in the Group 3 market. In addition, the Coffeyville Refinery sells hydrogen and by-products of its refining operations, such as pet coke, to an affiliate, CVR Partners, pursuant to multi-year agreements. For the year ended December 31, 2019, the top two customers accounted for 25% of the Petroleum Segment’s net sales.
Competition
Our Petroleum Segment competes primarily on the basis of price, reliability of supply, availability of multiple grades of products, and location. The principal competitive factors affecting its refining operations are cost of crude oil and other
feedstocks, refinery complexity, refinery efficiency, refinery product mix, and product distribution and transportation costs. The location of the Refineries provides us with a reliable supply of crude oil and a transportation cost advantage over our competitors. We primarily compete against five refineries in the mid-continent region. In addition to these refineries, we compete against trading companies, as well as other refineries located outside the region that are linked to the mid-continent market through an extensive product pipeline system. These competitors include refineries located near the Gulf Coast, the Great Lakes, and the Texas panhandle region.
Seasonality
Our Petroleum Segment operations experience seasonal fluctuations as demand for gasoline products is generally higher during the summer months than during the winter months due to seasonal increases in highway traffic and road construction work. Demand for diesel fuel is higher during the planting and harvesting seasons. As a result, its results of operations for the first and fourth calendar quarters are generally lower compared to its results for the second and third calendar quarters. In addition, unseasonably cool weather in the summer months and/or unseasonably warm weather in the winter months in the markets in which we sell petroleum products can impact the demand for gasoline and diesel fuel.
Nitrogen Fertilizer
Our Nitrogen Fertilizer Segment is comprised of the assets and operations of CVR Partners, including two nitrogen fertilizer manufacturing facilities located in Coffeyville, Kansas and East Dubuque, Illinois.
Facilities
Coffeyville Fertilizer Facility - We own and operate a nitrogen fertilizer production facility in Coffeyville, Kansas that includes a gasifier complex having a capacity of 89 million standard cubic feet per day of hydrogen, a 1,300 ton per day capacity ammonia unit, and a 3,000 ton per day capacity UAN unit (the “Coffeyville Fertilizer Facility”). The Coffeyville Fertilizer Facility is the only nitrogen fertilizer plant in North America that utilizes a pet coke gasification process to produce nitrogen fertilizer. The Coffeyville Fertilizer Facility’s largest raw material expense used in the production of ammonia is pet coke, which it purchases from our Coffeyville Refinery and third parties. For the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018, and 2017, the Coffeyville Fertilizer Facility purchased approximately $20 million, $13 million, and $8 million, respectively, of pet coke, which equaled an average cost per ton of $37.47, $28.41, and $16.56, respectively. For the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018, and 2017, we upgraded approximately 90%, 93%, and 88%, respectively, of our ammonia production into UAN, a product that presently generates greater profit than ammonia. We upgrade substantially all of our ammonia production at the Coffeyville Facility into UAN and expect to continue to do so when the economics are favorable.
East Dubuque Fertilizer Facility - We own and operate a nitrogen fertilizer production facility in East Dubuque, Illinois that includes a 1,075 ton per day capacity ammonia unit and a 1,100 ton per day capacity UAN unit (the “East Dubuque Fertilizer Facility”). The East Dubuque Fertilizer Facility has the flexibility to vary its product mix enabling it to upgrade a portion of ammonia production into varying amounts of UAN, nitric acid, and liquid and granulated urea, depending on market demand, pricing, and storage availability. The East Dubuque Fertilizer Facility’s largest raw material expense used in the production of ammonia is natural gas, which it purchases from third parties. For the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018, and 2017, the East Dubuque Facility incurred approximately $21 million, $23 million, and $26 million for feedstock natural gas, respectively, which equaled an average cost of $3.08, $3.15, and $3.26 per MMBtu, respectively.
Commodities
The nitrogen products we produce are globally traded commodities and are subject to price competition. The customers for its products make their purchasing decisions principally on the basis of delivered price and, to a lesser extent, on customer service and product quality. The selling prices of its products fluctuate in response to global market conditions and changes in supply and demand.
Agriculture
The three primary forms of nitrogen fertilizer used in the United States of America are ammonia, urea, and UAN. Unlike ammonia and urea, UAN can be applied throughout the growing season and can be applied in tandem with pesticides and herbicides, providing farmers with flexibility and cost savings. As a result of these factors, UAN typically commands a premium price to urea and ammonia, on a nitrogen equivalent basis.
Nutrients are depleted in soil over time and, therefore, must be replenished through fertilizer use. Nitrogen is the most quickly depleted nutrient and must be replenished every year, whereas phosphate and potassium can be retained in soil for up to three years. Plants require nitrogen in the largest amounts and it accounts for approximately 59% of primary fertilizer consumption on a nutrient ton basis, per the International Fertilizer Industry Association (“IFIA”).
Demand
Global demand for fertilizers is driven primarily by grain demand and prices, which, in turn, are driven by population growth, farmland per capita, dietary changes in the developing world and increased consumption of bio-fuels. According to the IFIA, from 1975 to 2017, global fertilizer demand grew 2% annually. Global fertilizer use, consisting of nitrogen, phosphate and potassium, is projected to increase by 34% between 2010 and 2030 to meet global food demand according to a study funded by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. Currently, the developed world uses fertilizer more intensively than the developing world, but sustained economic growth in emerging markets is increasing food demand and fertilizer use. In addition, populations in developing countries are shifting to more protein-rich diets as their incomes increase, with such consumption requiring more grain for animal feed. As an example, China’s wheat and coarse grains production is estimated to have increased 36% between 2009 and 2019, but still failed to keep pace with increases in demand, prompting China to grow its wheat and coarse grain imports by more than 552% over the same period, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (“USDA”).
The United States is the world’s largest exporter of coarse grains, accounting for 25% of world exports and 27% of world production for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2019, according to the USDA. A substantial amount of nitrogen is consumed in production of these crops to increase yield. Based on Fertecon Limited’s (“Fertecon”) 2019 estimates, the United States is the world’s third largest consumer of nitrogen fertilizer and the world’s largest importer of nitrogen fertilizer. Fertecon is a reputable agency which provides market information and analysis on fertilizers and fertilizer raw materials for fertilizer and related industries, and international agencies. Fertecon estimates indicate that the United States represented 11% of total global nitrogen fertilizer consumption for 2019, with China and India as the top consumers representing 23% and 15% of total global nitrogen fertilizer consumption, respectively.
North American nitrogen fertilizer producers predominantly use natural gas as their primary feedstock. Over the last five years, U.S. oil and natural gas reserves have increased significantly due to, among other factors, advances in extracting shale oil and gas, as well as relatively high oil and gas prices. More recently, global demand has slowed with production staying steady even as oil and gas prices have declined substantially over the past two years. This has led to significantly reduced natural gas and oil prices as compared to historical prices. As a result, North America has become a low-cost region for nitrogen fertilizer production.
Raw Material Supply
Coffeyville Fertilizer Facility - During the past five years, just under 61% of the Coffeyville Fertilizer Facility’s pet coke requirements on average were supplied by our adjacent Coffeyville Refinery pursuant to a multi-year agreement. Historically, the Coffeyville Fertilizer Facility has obtained the remainder of its pet coke requirements through third-party contracts typically priced at a discount to the spot market. In 2019, our supply of pet coke from the Coffeyville refinery declined to approximately 40%, generally attributable to increased processing of shale crude oil, which reduced the amount of pet coke produced by the refinery and increased the amount of third-party purchases made at spot prices. Additionally, the Coffeyville Fertilizer Facility relies on a third-party air separation plant at its location that provides contract volumes of oxygen, nitrogen, and compressed dry air to the Coffeyville Fertilizer Facility gasifiers.
East Dubuque Fertilizer Facility - The East Dubuque Fertilizer Facility uses natural gas to produce nitrogen fertilizer. We are generally able to purchase natural gas at competitive prices due to the facilities’ connection to the Northern Natural Gas interstate pipeline system, which is within one mile of the facility, and a third-party owned and operated pipeline. The pipelines
are connected to a third-party distribution system at the Chicago Citygate receipt point and at the Hampshire interconnect from which natural gas is transported to the East Dubuque Fertilizer Facility. As of December 31, 2019, we had commitments to purchase approximately 1 million MMBtus of natural gas supply for planned use in our East Dubuque Fertilizer Facility in both January and February of 2020 at a weighted average rate per MMBtu of approximately $2.67 and $2.66, respectively, exclusive of transportation cost.
Marketing and Distribution
Our Nitrogen Fertilizer Segment primarily markets UAN products to agricultural customers and ammonia products to agricultural and industrial customers. UAN and ammonia, including freight, accounted for approximately 70% and 24%, respectively, of our Nitrogen Fertilizer Segment’s net sales for the year ended December 31, 2019.
UAN and ammonia are primarily distributed by truck or by railcar. If delivered by truck, products are most commonly sold on a free-on-board (“FOB”) shipping point basis, and freight is normally arranged by the customer. We operate a fleet of railcars for use in product delivery. If delivered by railcar, the products are most commonly sold on a FOB destination point basis, and we typically arrange the freight.
The nitrogen fertilizer products leave the Coffeyville Fertilizer Facility either in railcars for destinations located principally on the Union Pacific or Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroads or in trucks for direct shipment to customers. The East Dubuque Fertilizer Facility primarily sells product to customers located within 200 miles of the facility. In most instances, customers take delivery of nitrogen products at the East Dubuque Fertilizer Facility and arrange to transport them to their final destinations by truck. Additionally, the East Dubuque Fertilizer Facility has direct access to a barge dock on the Mississippi River, as well as a nearby rail spur serviced by the Canadian National Railway Company.
Customers
We sell UAN products to retailers and distributors. In addition, we sell ammonia to agricultural and industrial customers. Given the nature of the nitrogen fertilizer business, and consistent with industry practice, most of our contracts with customers are for a term of 12-month or less. Some of our industrial sales include long-term purchase contracts. For the year ended December 31, 2019, the top two customers in the aggregate represented 28% of the Nitrogen Fertilizer Segment’s net sales.
Competition
Our Nitrogen Fertilizer Segment has experienced and expects to continue to meet significant levels of competition from current and potential competitors, many of whom have significantly greater financial and other resources. Competition in the nitrogen fertilizer industry is dominated by price considerations. However, during the spring and fall application seasons, farming activities intensify and delivery capacity is a significant competitive factor. We seasonally adjust inventory to enhance manufacturing and distribution operations.
Our major competitors in the nitrogen fertilizer business include CF Industries Holdings, Inc., including its majority owned subsidiary Terra Nitrogen Company, L.P.; LSB Industries, Inc.; Koch Fertilizer Company, LLC; and Nutrien Ltd. (formerly known as Agrium, Inc. and Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan, Inc.). Domestic competition is intense due to customers’ sophisticated buying tendencies and competitor strategies that focus on cost and service. We also encounter competition from producers of fertilizer products manufactured in foreign countries, including the threat of increased production capacity. In certain cases, foreign producers of fertilizer who export to the United States may be subsidized by their respective governments.
Seasonality
Because the Nitrogen Fertilizer Segment primarily sells agricultural commodity products, its business is exposed to seasonal fluctuations in demand for nitrogen fertilizer products in the agricultural industry. In addition, the demand for fertilizers is affected by the aggregate crop planting decisions and fertilizer application rate decisions of individual farmers who make planting decisions based largely on the prospective profitability of a harvest. The specific varieties and amounts of fertilizer they apply depend on factors like crop prices, farmers’ current liquidity, soil conditions, weather patterns, and the types of crops planted. The Nitrogen Fertilizer Segment typically experiences higher net sales in the first half of the calendar year, which is referred to as the planting season, and its net sales tend to be lower during the second half of each calendar year, which is referred to as the fill season.
Environmental Matters
Our petroleum and nitrogen fertilizer businesses are subject to extensive and frequently changing federal, state, and local, environmental, health and safety laws and regulations governing the emission and release of hazardous substances into the environment, the transportation, storage, and disposal of waste, the treatment and discharge of waste water, the storage, handling, use and transportation of petroleum and nitrogen products, and the characteristics and composition of gasoline, diesel fuels, UAN and ammonia. These laws and regulations and the enforcement thereof impact our segments and their operations by imposing:
•restrictions on operations or the need to install enhanced or additional controls;
•liability for the investigation and remediation of contaminated soil and groundwater at current and former facilities (if any) and for off-site waste disposal locations; and
•specifications for the products marketed by the Petroleum and Nitrogen Fertilizer Segments, primarily gasoline, diesel fuel, UAN, and ammonia.
Our operations require numerous permits, licenses, and authorizations. Failure to comply with these permits or environmental laws and regulations could result in fines, penalties, or other sanctions or a revocation of our permits. In addition, the laws and regulations to which we are subject are often evolving and many of them have or could become more stringent or have or could become subject to more stringent interpretation or enforcement by federal or state agencies. These laws and regulations could result in increased capital, operating, and compliance costs.
The Federal Clean Air Act (“CAA”)
The CAA and its implementing regulations, as well as corresponding state laws and regulations governing air emissions, affect the Petroleum and Nitrogen Fertilizer Segments both directly and indirectly. Direct impacts may occur through the CAA’s permitting requirements and/or emission control requirements relating to specific air pollutants, as well as the requirement to maintain a risk management program to help prevent accidental releases of certain regulated substances. The CAA affects the Petroleum and Nitrogen Fertilizer Segments by extensively regulating the air emissions of sulfur dioxide (“SO2”), volatile organic compounds, nitrogen oxides, and other substances, including those emitted by mobile sources, which are direct or indirect users of our products. Some or all of the regulations promulgated pursuant to the CAA, or any future promulgations of regulations, may require the installation of controls or changes to the petroleum facilities and/or the nitrogen fertilizer facilities (collectively referred to as the “Facilities”) to maintain compliance. If new controls or changes to operations are needed, the costs could be material.
The regulation of air emissions under the CAA requires that we obtain various construction and operating permits and incur capital expenditures for the installation of certain air pollution control devices at our operations. Various standards and programs specific to our operations have been implemented, such as the National Emission Standard for Hazardous Air Pollutants, the New Source Performance Standards, and the New Source Review.
The Federal Clean Water Act (“CWA”)
The CWA and its implementing regulations, as well as the corresponding state laws and regulations that govern the discharge of pollutants into the water, affect the Petroleum and Nitrogen Fertilizer Segments. The CWA’s permitting requirements establish discharge limitations that may be based on technology standards, water quality standards, and restrictions on the total maximum daily load of pollutants allowed to enter a particular water body based on its use. In addition, water resources are becoming and in the future may become more scarce, and many refiners, including us, are subject to use restrictions in the event of low availability conditions. Our Refineries and the Coffeyville Fertilizer Facility have contracts in place to receive water during certain water shortage conditions, but these conditions could change over time depending on the scarcity of water.
Renewable Fuel Standards
Pursuant to the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (“EISA”), the EPA has promulgated the Renewable Fuel Standard (“RFS”). The RFS requires refiners to either blend “renewable fuels,” such as ethanol and biofuels, into their transportation fuels or purchase renewable fuel credits, known as renewable identification numbers (“RINs”), in lieu of blending. Under the RFS, the volume of renewable fuels that refineries like Coffeyville and
Wynnewood are obligated to blend into their finished transportation fuel is adjusted annually by the EPA based on fuel supply and other conditions to meet the statutory mandates that increase annually, but which may be waived by the EPA under certain conditions. The volume of renewable fuels required by EISA increased from 9 billion gallons in 2008 to 22 billion gallons in 2016 and increases to 36 billion gallons in 2022. The EPA has statutory authority to determine RFS volumes after 2022. In addition to the total renewable fuel volume mandate, there are sub-mandates for advanced biofuels, cellulosic biofuel, and biomass-based diesel. Under the cellulosic waiver authority provided to the EPA by the CAA, if the EPA’s projected volume of cellulosic biofuel for a calendar year is less than its statutory mandate, the EPA must reduce the required volume of cellulosic biofuel accordingly and provide obligated parties the opportunity to purchase cellulosic waiver credits. The EPA also has the discretion to reduce the total renewable fuel and advanced biofuel requirements by the same amount as it reduced the cellulosic biofuel volume. The Petroleum Segment (like many refiners) is not able to meet its annual renewable volume obligation (“RVO”) through blending, so it has had to purchase RINs on the open market as well as obtain cellulosic waiver credits from the EPA, in order to comply with the RFS. The cost of purchasing RINs and cellulosic waiver credits fluctuates and can be significant. The price of RINs has been extremely volatile as the EPA’s proposed renewable fuel volume mandates approached and exceeded the “blend wall.” The blend wall refers to the point at which the amount of ethanol blended into the transportation fuel supply exceeds the demand for transportation fuel containing such levels of ethanol. The blend wall is generally considered to be reached when more than 10% ethanol by volume (“E10 gasoline”) is blended into transportation fuel.
In May 2019, the EPA finalized regulatory changes to allow gasoline blended with up to 15 percent ethanol (“E15”) to take advantage of a waiver during the summer months that previously only applied to E10. Because E15 can now be sold year-round rather than just eight months of the year, a higher percentage of transportation fuels can be blended with renewable fuels. The E15 rule, however, is the subject of legal challenges in the District of Columbia Circuit (“D.C. Circuit”), which could lead to the rule being overturned. Also, in December 2019, the EPA published the final renewable fuel volumes for 2020, and the biomass-based diesel volume for 2021 (the “2020 RFS Final Rule”). As in past years, the volumes increased from the previous year, but with the exception of the volume for biomass-based diesel, are lower than the CAA statutory volume targets. The EPA set a lower volume for cellulosic biofuel based on the projected volume available for 2020 and used its cellulosic waiver authority under the CAA to set volumes below the statutory targets for advanced biofuel and total renewable fuel. In the rule, the EPA also finalized changes to the percentage standard calculations to account for volumes of gasoline and diesel that the EPA projects will be exempted from the renewable volume obligations moving forward.
Additional RFS-related rulemakings may occur in 2020. One relates to a lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in which several biofuels groups challenged the EPA’s final renewable fuels volumes for 2014 through 2016. In July 2017, the D.C. Circuit vacated the EPA’s decision to reduce the 2016 volumes under its “inadequate domestic supply” waiver authority and remanded the rule to the EPA for further reconsideration. In its proposed rule for the 2020 renewable fuel volumes, the EPA responded to the remand by proposing that the 2016 volume requirement for total renewable fuel should not be changed. In its final rule, however, the EPA noted that it was still actively considering this issue and did not expect to take final agency action until early 2020. When the EPA re-proposes the 2016 renewable volume obligations, there could be an increase in the volume mandates for 2016 and, as a result, the Coffeyville Refinery and the Wynnewood Refinery could be required to purchase more RINs for 2016 compliance.
Another rulemaking that was previously anticipated but has since been withdrawn involves the CAA “reset” provision. Under the reset provision, if the EPA waives the statutory volumes for any of the four fuel categories by at least 20% for two consecutive years or by at least 50% for a single year, then the EPA must modify the statutory volumes for all subsequent years for that fuel category. The reset has been triggered in previous years for both advanced biofuel and cellulosic biofuel and, most recently, the rules setting the 2019 renewable fuel volume requirements triggered the reset provision for total renewable fuel. In October 2018, the EPA reported that it would begin rulemaking in 2019 to reset the volumes for cellulosic biofuel, advanced biofuel, and total renewable fuel for compliance years 2020-2022. In May 2019, the EPA delivered its proposed “reset” rule to the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”), which is the final step before the EPA can release a proposed rule for public review. Then, in December 2019, the agency withdrew its draft proposal. The EPA has not indicated how it will address the reset requirement moving forward, but if the EPA does pursue a reset rulemaking, it may modify the volumes, in either case impacting the Coffeyville Refinery’s and the Wynnewood Refinery’s obligations under the RFS.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions (“GHG”)
The EPA regulates GHG emissions under the Clean Air Act. In October 2009, the EPA finalized a rule requiring certain large emitters of GHGs to inventory and report their GHG emissions to the EPA. In accordance with the rule, our Facilities monitor and report our GHG emissions to the EPA. In May 2010, the EPA finalized the “Greenhouse Gas Tailoring Rule,” which established GHG emissions thresholds that determine when stationary sources, such as the Refineries and the nitrogen
fertilizer facilities, must obtain permits under Prevention of Significant Deterioration (“PSD”) and Title V programs of the federal Clean Air Act. Under the rule, facilities already subject to the PSD and Title V programs that increase their emissions of GHGs by a significant amount are required to undergo PSD review and to evaluate and implement air pollution control technology, known as “best available control technology,” to reduce GHG emissions.
In December 2010, the EPA reached a settlement agreement with numerous parties under which it agreed to promulgate New Source Performance Standards (“NSPS”) to regulate GHG emissions from petroleum refineries and electric utilities by November 2012. In September 2014, the EPA indicated that the petroleum refining sector risk rule, proposed in June 2014 to address air toxics and volatile organic compounds from refineries, may make it unnecessary for the EPA to regulate GHG emissions from petroleum refineries at this time. The final rule, which was published in the Federal Register on December 1, 2015, addresses air toxics and volatile organic compounds and places additional emission control requirements and work practice standards on FCCUs, storage tanks, flares, coking units, and other equipment at petroleum refineries. Therefore, we do not currently expect the EPA to issue regulations on GHG emissions from petroleum refineries at this time, but that it may do so in the future.
In October 2015, the EPA published the Clean Power Plan, which established NSPS for carbon dioxide emissions from electric utilities. However, since the change in administration in 2017, the EPA has shifted its regulatory approach of GHG emissions. In December 2018, the EPA proposed amendments to the Clean Power Plan that, among other things, would replace the determination of the best system of emission reduction (“BSER”) with a less costly and burdensome BSER determination for new coal-fired units. In June 2019, the EPA issued the final Affordable Clean Energy (“ACE”) Rule to replace the 2015 Clean Power Plan, which represented the Obama administration’s signature policy to regulate GHGs. The ACE rule establishes new emission guidelines for states to address GHGs from existing coal-fired power plants and update the BSER for those facilities. The ACE rule is being challenged in the courts by multiple states and a coalition of environmental organizations.
The EPA’s approach to regulating GHG emissions may change again under future administrations. Therefore, the impact on our Facilities due to future GHG regulation is unknown.
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (“CERCLA”) and the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (“EPCRA”)
The release of hazardous substances or extremely hazardous substances into the environment is subject to release reporting requirements under federal and state environmental laws. Our Facilities also periodically experience releases of hazardous and extremely hazardous substances from their equipment and periodically have excess emission events. From time to time, the EPA has conducted inspections and issued information requests to us with respect to our compliance with reporting requirements under the CERCLA and the EPCRA. If we fail to timely or properly report a release, or if a release violates the law or our permits, we could become the subject of a governmental enforcement action or third-party claims. Government enforcement or third-party claims relating to releases of hazardous or extremely hazardous substances could result in significant expenditures and liability.
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (“RCRA”)
Our facilities are subject to the RCRA requirements for the generation, transportation, treatment, storage, and disposal of solid and hazardous wastes. When feasible, RCRA-regulated materials are recycled instead of being disposed of on-site or off-site. RCRA establishes standards for the management of solid and hazardous wastes. Besides governing current waste disposal practices, RCRA also addresses the environmental effects of certain past waste disposal practices, the recycling of wastes, and the regulation of underground storage tanks containing regulated substances.
Impacts of Past Manufacturing - In March 2004, two of our subsidiaries entered into a Consent Decree (“2004 Consent Decree”) with the EPA and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (the “KDHE”) which required us to assume two RCRA corrective action orders issued to Farmland, the prior owner of the Coffeyville Refinery. We are subject to a 1994 EPA administrative order related to investigation of possible past releases of hazardous materials to the environment at the Coffeyville Refinery. In accordance with the order, we have conducted the required investigation and interim remediation projects and documented existing soil and groundwater conditions. In June 2017, the Coffeyville Refinery submitted an amended RCRA post-closure permit application to the KDHE to complete closure of former hazardous waste management units at the Coffeyville Refinery and to perform corrective action at the site. The KDHE approved the permit application report in July 2019, and we anticipate that the RCRA permit will be issued in 2020. The now-closed Phillipsburg terminal is subject to a
1996 EPA administrative order related to investigation of releases of hazardous materials to the environment at the Phillipsburg terminal, which operated as a refinery until 1991. The Phillipsburg terminal investigation is complete and corrective measures are in place implementing the EPA’s Statement of Basis and Final Remedy Decision issued in July 2018. The Wynnewood Refinery operates under a RCRA permit. A RCRA facility investigation has been completed in accordance with the terms of the permit. Based on the facility investigation and other available information, Wynnewood Refining Company, LLC (“WRC”) entered into a consent order with the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality (“ODEQ”) requiring further investigations of groundwater conditions and enhancements of existing remediation systems. We have completed the groundwater investigation at the Wynnewood Refinery and the ODEQ has approved our ongoing corrective actions. The consent order was terminated by the ODEQ in July 2019.
Financial Assurance - We are required, under the 2004 Consent Decree, to establish financial assurance to secure the current projected clean-up costs of $6 million for the Coffeyville Refinery and $5 million for the now-closed Phillipsburg terminal in the event we fail to fulfill our clean-up obligations. In accordance with the 2004 Consent Decree, as modified by a 2010 agreement between Coffeyville Resources Refining and Marketing, LLC (“CRRM”), Coffeyville Resources Terminal, LLC (“CRT”), the EPA, and the KDHE, this financial assurance is currently provided by a bond in the amount of $2 million for clean-up obligations at the Phillipsburg terminal and a letter of credit in the amount of $0.3 million for estimated costs to close regulated hazardous waste management units at the Coffeyville Refinery. Additional self-funded financial assurance of approximately $6 million and $3 million is required to meet our RCRA financial assistance obligations for the Coffeyville Refinery and Phillipsburg terminal, respectively. The $2 million bond amount is reduced each year based on actual expenditures for corrective actions and the letter of credit and the self-funded mechanisms are re-evaluated and adjusted on an annual basis. Current RCRA financial assurance requirements for the Wynnewood Refinery total $0.2 million for hazardous waste storage tank closure and post-closure monitoring of a closed storm water retention pond.
Waste Management - There are two closed hazardous waste units at the Coffeyville Refinery and fourteen other solid waste management units in the process of being closed pending state agency approval. There is one closed hazardous waste unit and one active hazardous waste storage tank at the Wynnewood Refinery. In addition, one closed, interim status, hazardous waste landfarm located at the now-closed Phillipsburg terminal is under long-term post-closure care.
Environmental Remediation
As is the case with all companies engaged in similar industries, we face potential exposure from future claims and lawsuits involving environmental matters, including soil and water contamination and personal injury or property damage allegedly caused by crude oil or hazardous substances that we manufactured, handled, used, stored, transported, spilled, disposed of, or released. There is no assurance that we will not become involved in future proceedings related to the release of hazardous or extremely hazardous substances or crude oil for which we have potential liability or that, if we were held responsible for damages in any existing or future proceedings, such costs would be covered by insurance or would not be material.
Environmental Insurance
We are covered by a site pollution legal liability insurance policy. The policy includes business interruption coverage. The policy insures any location owned, leased or rented or operated by the Company, including the Refineries and the nitrogen fertilizer facilities. The policy insures certain pollution conditions at or migrating from a covered location, certain waste transportation and disposal activities, and business interruption.
In addition to the site pollution legal liability insurance policy, we maintain umbrella and excess casualty insurance policies which include sudden and accidental pollution coverage. This insurance provides coverage due to named perils for claims involving pollutants where the discharge is sudden and accidental and first commences at a specific day and time during the policy period.
The site pollution legal liability policy and the pollution coverage provided in the casualty insurance policies are subject to retentions and deductibles and contain discovery requirements, reporting requirements, exclusions, definitions, conditions, and limitations that could apply to a particular pollution claim, and there can be no assurance such claim will be adequately insured for all potential damages.
Health, Safety and Security Matters
We are subject to a number of federal and state laws and regulations related to safety, including the Occupational Safety and Health Act (“OSHA”) and comparable state statutes, the purpose of which are to protect the health and safety of workers. We also are subject to Process Safety Management regulations, which are designed to prevent or minimize the consequences of catastrophic releases of toxic, reactive, flammable, or explosive chemicals.
We operate a comprehensive safety, health, and security program, with participation by employees, consultants, and advisors at all levels of the organization. We have developed comprehensive safety programs aimed at preventing OSHA recordable incidents. Despite our efforts to achieve excellence in our safety and health performance, there can be no assurances that there will not be accidents resulting in injuries or even fatalities. We routinely audit our programs and seek to continually improve our management systems.
Refer to Part II, Item 8, Note 11 (“Commitments and Contingencies”), “Wynnewood Refinery Incident” of this Report for further discussion of OSHA.
Employees
As of December 31, 2019, the Company had approximately 1,486 employees including those employed by CVR Refining, CVR Partners, and the Company and its other subsidiaries’ corporate support functions. Our Petroleum Segment had approximately 971 employees at December 31, 2019 across both of its refineries and its logistics operations, including approximately 511 employees covered by collective bargaining agreements that expire on various dates ranging from June 2021 to March 2023. Our Nitrogen Fertilizer Segment had approximately 286 employees at December 31, 2019 across both of its facilities and its marketing and logistics operations, including approximately 90 employees covered by collective bargaining agreements that expire in October 2023.
Available Information
Our website address is www.cvrenergy.com. Our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and all amendments to those reports, filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), are available free of charge through our website under “Investor Relations,” as soon as reasonably practicable after the electronic filing or furnishing of these reports is made with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) at www.sec.gov. In addition, our Corporate Governance Guidelines, Codes of Ethics and Business Conduct, and Charters of the Audit Committee, the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, and the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors are available on our website. These guidelines, policies, and charters are also available in print without charge to any stockholder requesting them. We do not intend for information contained in our website to be part of this Report.
Item 1A. Risk Factors
The following risks should be considered together with the other information contained in this Report and all of the information set forth in our filings with the SEC. If any of the following risks or uncertainties develops into actual events, our petroleum and/or nitrogen fertilizer businesses, financial conditions, or results of operations could be materially adversely affected. References to CVR Energy, the Company, “we”, “us”, and “our” may refer to consolidated subsidiaries of CVR Energy, including CVR Refining or CVR Partners, as the context may require.
Risks Related to Our Entire Business
Our petroleum and nitrogen fertilizer businesses are, and commodity prices are, cyclical and highly volatile, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
Our Petroleum Segment’s financial results are primarily affected by margin between refined product prices and the prices for crude oil and other feedstocks. Historically, refining margins have been volatile, and we believe they will continue to be volatile in the future. Our cost to acquire feedstocks and the price at which we can ultimately sell refined products depend upon several factors beyond our control, including regional and global supply of and demand for crude oil, gasoline, diesel, and other feedstocks and refined products. These in turn depend on, among other things, the availability and quantity of imports, the production levels of U.S. and international suppliers, levels of refined petroleum product inventories, productivity and growth (or the lack thereof) of U.S. and global economies, U.S. relationships with foreign governments, political affairs, and the extent of governmental regulation.
Some of these factors can vary by region and may change quickly, adding to market volatility, while others may have longer-term effects on refining and marketing margins, which are uncertain. We do not produce crude oil and must purchase all of the crude oil we refine long before we refine it and sell the refined products. Price level changes during the period between purchasing feedstocks and selling the refined petroleum products from these feedstocks could have a significant effect on our financial results. A decline in market prices may negatively impact the carrying value of our inventories.
Our Petroleum Segment profitability is also impacted by the ability to purchase crude oil at a discount to benchmark crude oils, such as WTI. Crude oil differentials can fluctuate significantly based upon overall economic and crude oil market conditions. Adverse changes in crude oil differentials can adversely impact refining margins, earnings and cash flows. In addition, the Petroleum Segment’s purchases of crude oil, although based on WTI prices, have historically been at a discount to WTI because of the proximity of the refineries to the sources, existing logistics infrastructure, and quality differences. Any changes to these factors could result in a reduction of the discount to WTI and may result in a reduction of the Petroleum Segment’s cost advantage.
Our Nitrogen Fertilizer Segment is exposed to fluctuations in nitrogen fertilizer demand in the agricultural industry. These fluctuations historically have had and could in the future have significant effects on prices across all nitrogen fertilizer products and, in turn, our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
Nitrogen fertilizer products are commodities, the price of which can be highly volatile. The prices of nitrogen fertilizer products depend on a number of factors, including general economic conditions, cyclical trends in end-user markets, supply and demand imbalances, governmental policies, and weather conditions, which have a greater relevance because of the seasonal nature of fertilizer application. If seasonal demand exceeds the projections on which we base our production levels, customers may acquire nitrogen fertilizer products from competitors, and our profitability may be negatively impacted. If seasonal demand is less than expected, we may be left with excess inventory that will have to be stored or liquidated.
Demand for nitrogen fertilizer products is dependent on demand for crop nutrients by the global agricultural industry. The international market for nitrogen fertilizers is influenced by such factors as the relative value of the U.S. dollar and its impact upon the cost of importing nitrogen fertilizers, foreign agricultural policies, the existence of, or changes in, import or foreign currency exchange barriers in certain foreign markets, changes in the hard currency demands of certain countries, and other regulatory policies of foreign governments, as well as the laws and policies of the United States affecting foreign trade and investment. Nitrogen-based fertilizers remain solidly in demand, driven by a growing world population, changes in dietary habits, and an expanded use of corn for the production of ethanol. Supply is affected by available capacity and operating rates, raw material costs, government policies, and global trade. A decrease in nitrogen fertilizer prices would have a material adverse effect on our nitrogen fertilizer business and cash flow, including CVR Partners’ ability to make distributions.
Additionally, volatile prices for natural gas and electricity affect both segments’ manufacturing and operating costs. Natural gas and electricity prices have been, and will continue to be, affected by supply and demand for fuel and utility services in both local and regional markets.
Petroleum and nitrogen fertilizer products are global commodities, and our businesses face intense competition from other refining and marketing companies and nitrogen fertilizer producers, which may have more resources and scale.
The refining industry is highly competitive with respect to both crude oil and other feedstock supply and refined petroleum product markets. We compete with many companies for available supplies of crude oil and other feedstocks and for sites for our refined petroleum products. Our Petroleum Segment may be unable to compete effectively with competitors within and outside of the industry, which could result in reduced profitability. We do not have a retail business and therefore are dependent upon others for outlets for our refined products, and we do not have arrangements exceeding a twelve-month period for much of our petroleum output. Many of our competitors, however, obtain a significant portion of their feedstocks from company-owned production and some have extensive retail sites. Such competitors are at times able to offset losses from refining operations with profits from producing or retailing operations and may be better positioned to withstand periods of depressed refining margins or feedstock shortages. Some of our competitors also have materially greater financial and other resources than we have. Such competitors have a greater ability to bear the economic risks inherent in all phases of our industry.
In addition, our Petroleum Segment competes with other industries that provide alternative means to satisfy the energy and fuel requirements of its industrial, commercial, and individual customers. There are presently significant governmental incentives and consumer pressures to increase the use of alternative fuels in the United States. The more successful these alternatives become as a result of governmental incentives or regulations, technological advances, consumer demand, improved pricing, or otherwise, the greater the negative impact on pricing and demand for our products and profitability.
Our Nitrogen Fertilizer Segment is subject to intense price competition from both U.S. and foreign sources. Fertilizers are global commodities, with little or no product differentiation, and customers make their purchasing decisions principally on the basis of delivered price and availability of the product. Increased global supply or decreases in transportation costs for foreign sources of fertilizer may put downward pressure on fertilizer prices. Furthermore, in recent years, the price of nitrogen fertilizer in the United States has been substantially driven by pricing in the global fertilizer market. We compete with a number of U.S. producers and producers in other countries, including state-owned and government-subsidized entities. Some competitors have greater total resources and are less dependent on earnings from fertilizer sales, which make them less vulnerable to industry downturns and better positioned to pursue new expansion and development opportunities. Additionally, our competitors utilizing different corporate structures may be better able to withstand lower cash flows than our Nitrogen Fertilizer Segment can as a limited partnership. Our competitive position could suffer to the extent we are unable to expand resources either through investments in new or existing operations or through acquisitions, joint ventures, or partnerships. An inability to compete successfully could result in a loss of customers, which could adversely affect our sales, profitability, and cash flows and, therefore, have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
Our businesses are geographically concentrated and are, therefore, subject to regional economic downturns and seasonal variations, which may affect our production levels, transportation costs, and inventory and working capital levels.
Our Refineries are both located in the southern portion of Group 3 of the PADD II region, and we primarily market refined products in a relatively limited geographic area. As a result, our Petroleum Segment is more susceptible to regional economic conditions than the operations of more geographically diversified competitors, and any unforeseen events or circumstances that affect its operating area could also materially adversely affect its revenues and cash flows. These factors include, among other things, changes in the economy, weather conditions, demographics and population, increased supply of refined products from competitors, and reductions in the supply of crude oil. In addition, if we deliver refined products to customers outside of the region, we may incur considerably higher transportation costs, resulting in lower refining margins, if any.
Our Nitrogen Fertilizer Segment’s sales to agricultural customers are concentrated in the Great Plains and Midwest states, and nitrogen fertilizer demand is seasonal. Our quarterly results may vary significantly from one year to the next due largely to weather-related shifts in planting schedules and purchase patterns. Farmers tend to apply nitrogen fertilizer during two short application periods, one in the spring and the other in the fall. In contrast, we, along with other nitrogen fertilizer producers, generally produce products throughout the year. As a result, we and our customers generally build inventories during the low demand periods of the year to ensure timely product availability during peak sales seasons. Variations in the proportion of product sold through prepaid sales contracts and the terms of such contracts can increase the seasonal volatility of our cash
flows and cause changes in the patterns of seasonal volatility from year-to-year. Additionally, the accumulation of inventory to be available for seasonal sales creates significant seasonal working capital and storage capacity requirements. The degree of seasonality can change significantly from year-to-year due to conditions in the agricultural industry and other factors. As a consequence of this seasonality, distributions by our Nitrogen Fertilizer Segment of available cash, if any, may be volatile and may vary quarterly and annually.
Both the Petroleum and Nitrogen Fertilizer Segments depend on significant customers, and the loss of several significant customers may have a material adverse impact on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
The Petroleum and Nitrogen Fertilizer Segments both have a significant concentration of customers. The two largest customers of our Petroleum Segment represented 25% of its net sales for the year ended December 31, 2019. The two largest customers of the Nitrogen Fertilizer Segment represented approximately 28% of its net sales for the same period. Given the nature of our businesses, and consistent with industry practice, we do not have long-term minimum purchase contracts with our customers. The loss of several of these significant customers, or a significant reduction in purchase volume by several of them, could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
Compliance with and changes in environmental laws and regulations, including those related to climate change, could require us to make substantial capital expenditures and adversely affect our performance.
Our operations are subject to extensive federal, state, and local environmental laws and regulations relating to the protection of the environment, including those governing the emission or discharge of pollutants into the environment, product use and specifications, and the generation, treatment, storage, transportation, disposal, and remediation of solid and hazardous wastes.
Violations of applicable environmental laws and regulations or of the conditions of permits issued thereunder can result in substantial penalties, injunctive orders compelling installation of additional controls or other injunctive relief, civil and criminal sanctions, operating restrictions, permit revocations, and/or facility shutdowns, which may have a material adverse effect on our ability to operate our facilities and accordingly our financial performance. Capital expenditures and operating costs for current and future environmental compliance may be substantial and could have a material adverse effect on our segments’ results of operations, financial condition and profitability.
In addition, new environmental laws and regulations, new interpretations of existing laws and regulations, increased governmental enforcement of laws and regulations, or other developments could require us to make additional unforeseen expenditures. These laws and regulations are generally expected to impose increasingly stringent, and costly requirements over time. Various legislative and regulatory measures to address climate change and GHG emissions (including carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxides) are in various phases of discussion or implementation and could affect our operations. They include proposed and enacted federal regulation and state actions to develop statewide, regional, or nationwide programs designed to control and reduce GHG emissions from fixed sources, such as our refineries and fertilizer facilities, and transportation fuels. Many states and regions have implemented, or are in the process of implementing, measures to reduce emissions of GHGs, but other than Kansas, we do not currently operate in states that have their own GHG reduction programs.
Although it is not possible to predict the requirements of any GHG legislation that may be enacted, any laws or regulations that have been or may be adopted to restrict or reduce GHG emissions will likely require us to incur increased operating and capital costs and/or increased taxes on GHG emissions. If we are unable to maintain sales of our products at a price that reflects such increased costs, there could be a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In addition, climate change legislation and regulations may result in increased costs not only for us but also users of our fertilizer products, thereby potentially decreasing demand for our products. Further, changes in environmental laws and regulations or their interpretation relating to the end-use and application of fertilizers could cause changes in demand for our products or limit our ability market and sell products to end users. From time to time, various state legislatures have proposed bans or other limitations on fertilizer products. Decreased demand for our products may have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
Our facilities face significant risks due to physical damage hazards, environmental liability risk exposure, and unplanned or emergency partial or total plant shutdowns resulting in business interruptions. We could incur potentially significant costs to the extent there are unforeseen events which cause property damage and a material decline in production which are
not fully insured. The commercial insurance industry engaged in underwriting energy industry risk is specialized and there is finite capacity; therefore, the industry may limit or curtail coverage, may modify the coverage provided, or may substantially increase premiums in the future.
If any of our facilities, logistics assets, or key suppliers sustains a catastrophic loss and operations are shutdown or significantly impaired, it would have a material adverse impact on our operations, financial condition and cash flows. In addition, the risk exposures we have at the Coffeyville, Kansas plant complex are greater due to production facilities, as well as distribution and storage, for petroleum and nitrogen fertilizer being in relatively close proximity and potentially exposed to damage from one incident. Operations at either or both of the facilities could be curtailed, limited, or completely shut down for an extended period of time as the result of one or more unforeseen events and circumstances, which may not be within our control, including:
•major unplanned maintenance requirements;
•catastrophic events caused by mechanical breakdown, electrical injury, pressure vessel rupture, explosion, contamination, fire, or natural disasters, including floods, windstorms, and other similar events;
•labor supply shortages or labor difficulties that result in a work stoppage or slowdown;
•cessation or suspension of a plant or specific operations dictated by environmental authorities;
•acts of terrorism or other deliberate malicious acts; and
•an event or incident involving a large clean-up, decontamination, or the imposition of laws and ordinances regulating the cost and schedule of demolition or reconstruction, which can cause significant delays in restoring property to its pre-loss condition.
We have sustained losses over the past ten-year period at our facilities, which are illustrative of the types of risks and hazards that exist. These losses or events resulted in costs assumed by us that were not fully insured due to policy retentions or applicable exclusions. We are insured under casualty, environmental, property, and business interruption insurance policies. The property and business interruption policies insure real and personal property, including property located at our facilities. There is potential for a common occurrence to impact both our Coffeyville Refinery and Coffeyville Fertilizer Facility, in which case the insurance limits and applicable sub-limits would apply to all damages combined. These policies are subject to limits, sub-limits, retention (financial and time-based), and deductibles. The application of these and other policy conditions could materially impact insurance recoveries and potentially cause us to assume losses which could impair earnings.
There is finite capacity in the commercial insurance industry engaged in underwriting energy industry risk, and there are risks associated with the commercial insurance industry reducing capacity, changing the scope of insurance coverage offered, and substantially increasing premiums, deductibles, or retainers, and/or waiting periods, resulting from highly adverse loss experience or other financial circumstances. Factors that impact insurance cost and availability include, but are not limited to: losses in our industries, natural disasters, specific losses incurred by us, and low or inadequate investment returns earned by the insurance industry. If the supply of commercial insurance is curtailed due to highly adverse financial results, we may not be able to continue our present limits of insurance coverage or obtain sufficient insurance capacity to adequately insure our risks for property damage or business interruption.
We could incur significant costs in cleaning up contamination at our refineries, terminals, fertilizer facilities, and off-site locations.
Our businesses handle petroleum and hazardous substances, and as a result, spills, discharges, or other releases of petroleum or hazardous substances into the environment may occur. Past or future spills related to any of our current or former operations, including refineries, pipelines, product terminals, and fertilizer facilities, or transportation of products or hazardous substances from those facilities, may give rise to liability (including strict liability, or liability without fault, and potential cleanup responsibility) to governmental entities or private parties under federal, state, or local environmental laws, as well as under common law. For example, we could be held strictly liable under CERCLA and similar state statutes for past or future spills without regard to fault or whether our actions were in compliance with the law at the time of the spills. Pursuant to CERCLA and similar state statutes, we could be held liable for contamination associated with facilities we currently own or operate (whether such contamination occurred prior to or during our ownership), facilities we formerly owned or operated, and facilities to which we transported or arranged for the transportation of wastes or byproducts containing hazardous substances for treatment, storage, or disposal. If significant unknown contamination is identified at or migrating from any of our facilities,
the associated liability could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows and may not be covered by insurance.
The potential penalties and cleanup costs for past or future releases or spills, liability to third parties for damage to their property or exposure to hazardous substances, or the need to address newly discovered information or conditions that may require response actions could be significant and could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. In addition, we may incur liability for alleged personal injury or property damage due to exposure to chemicals or other hazardous substances located at or released from our facilities. We may also face liability for personal injury, property damage, natural resource damage, or for cleanup costs for the alleged migration of contamination or other hazardous substances from our facilities to adjacent and other nearby properties.
Remedial activities to address known environmental contamination are underway at three of our facilities, including the Coffeyville Refinery, the now-closed Phillipsburg terminal (which operated as a refinery until 1991), and the Wynnewood Refinery. We also have assumed the previous owner’s responsibilities under certain administrative orders under RCRA related to contamination at or that originated from the Coffeyville Refinery and the Phillipsburg terminal. We continue to work with the applicable governmental authorities to implement remediation of these three sites on a timely basis. As of December 31, 2019, we have established an accrual of approximately $6 million for probable and reasonably estimable obligations associated with these sites.
We may incur future liability relating to the off-site disposal of solid and hazardous waste from our facilities. Companies that dispose of, or arrange for the treatment, transportation, or disposal of, hazardous substances at off-site locations may be held jointly and severally liable for the costs of investigation and remediation of contamination at those off-site locations, regardless of fault. We could become involved in litigation or other proceedings involving off-site waste disposal and the damages or costs associated with any such proceedings could be material.
New regulations concerning the transportation, storage, and handling of hazardous chemicals, risks of terrorism, and the security of refineries and chemical manufacturing facilities could result in higher operating costs.
The costs of complying with future regulations relating to the transportation, storage, and handling of hazardous chemicals and security associated with the refining and nitrogen fertilizer facilities may have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. Targets such as refining and chemical manufacturing facilities may be at greater risk of future terrorist attacks than other targets in the United States. As a result, the petroleum and chemical industries are subject to regulatory initiatives relating to the security of petroleum and chemical industry facilities and the transportation of hazardous chemicals in the United States. Future terrorist attacks could lead to even stronger, more costly initiatives that could result in a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
We may be unable to obtain or renew permits or approvals necessary for our operations, which could inhibit our ability to do business.
Our businesses hold numerous environmental and other governmental permits and approvals authorizing operations at our facilities. Future expansion of our operations is predicated upon securing the necessary environmental and other permits or approvals. A decision by a government agency to deny or delay issuing a new or renewed material permit or approval, or to revoke or substantially modify an existing permit or approval, could have a material adverse effect on our ability to continue operations and on our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
We are subject to strict laws and regulations regarding employee and process safety, and failure to comply with these laws and regulations could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and profitability.
We are subject to the requirements of OSHA and comparable state statutes that regulate the protection of the health and safety of workers, the proper design, operation, and maintenance of our equipment, and require us to provide information about hazardous materials used in our operations. Failure to comply with these requirements may result in significant fines or compliance costs, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
A significant portion of our workforce is unionized, and we are subject to the risk of labor disputes and adverse employee relations, which may disrupt our business and increase our costs.
As of December 31, 2019, approximately 53% and 31% of our petroleum and nitrogen fertilizer employees, respectively, were represented by labor unions under collective bargaining agreements. We may not be able to renegotiate our collective bargaining agreements when they expire on satisfactory terms or at all. A failure to do so may increase our costs. In addition, our existing labor agreements may not prevent a strike or work stoppage at any of our facilities in the future, and any work stoppage could negatively affect our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
We are subject to cybersecurity risks and other cyber incidents resulting in disruption.
We depend on internal and third-party information technology systems to manage and support our operations. In addition, we collect, process, and retain sensitive and confidential customer information in the normal course of business. Despite the security measures we have in place and any additional measures we may implement in the future, our facilities and these systems could be vulnerable to security breaches, computer viruses, lost or misplaced data, programming errors, human errors, acts of vandalism, or other events. Any disruption of these systems or security breach or event resulting in the misappropriation, loss, or other unauthorized disclosure of confidential information, whether by us directly or our third-party service providers, could damage our reputation, expose us to the risks of litigation and liability, disrupt our business, or otherwise affect our results of operations. In addition, new laws and regulations governing data privacy and the unauthorized disclosure of confidential information pose increasingly complex compliance challenges and potentially elevate our costs. Any failure to comply with these laws and regulations, including as a result of a security or privacy breach, could result in significant penalties and liabilities for us.
The acquisition and expansion strategy of our businesses involves significant risks.
From time to time, we may consider pursuing acquisitions and expansion projects to continue to grow and increase profitability. However, we may not be able to consummate such acquisitions or expansions, due to intense competition for suitable acquisition targets, the potential unavailability of financial resources necessary to consummate acquisitions and expansions, difficulties in identifying suitable acquisition targets and expansion projects or in completing any transactions identified on sufficiently favorable terms, and the failure to obtain requisite regulatory or other governmental approvals. In addition, any future acquisitions and expansions may entail significant transaction costs and risks associated with entry into new markets and lines of business, including but not limited to new regulatory obligations and risks.
Even when acquisitions are completed, integration of acquired entities can involve significant difficulties, such as:
•Unforeseen difficulties in the integration of the acquired operations and disruption of the ongoing operations of our business;
•Failure to achieve cost savings or other financial or operating objectives contributing to the accretive nature of an acquisition;
•Strain on the operational and managerial controls and procedures and the need to modify systems or to add management resources;
•Difficulties in the integration and retention of customers or personnel and the integration and effective deployment of operations or technologies;
•Assumption of unknown material liabilities or regulatory non-compliance issues;
•Amortization of acquired assets, which would reduce future reported earnings;
•Possible adverse short-term effects on our cash flows or operating results; and
•Diversion of management’s attention from the ongoing operations of our business.
In addition, in connection with any potential acquisition or expansion project specific to CVR Partners (our Nitrogen Fertilizer Segment), we will need to consider whether a business we intend to acquire or expansion project we intend to pursue could affect CVR Partners’ tax treatment as a partnership for federal income tax purposes. If CVR Partners is otherwise unable to conclude that the activities of the business being acquired or the expansion project would not affect its treatment as a partnership for federal income tax purposes, it may elect to seek a ruling from the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”). Seeking such a ruling could be costly or, in the case of competitive acquisitions, place the business in a competitive disadvantage compared to other potential acquirers who do not seek such a ruling. If CVR Partners is otherwise unable to conclude that an activity would not affect its treatment as a partnership for federal income tax purposes and is unable or unwilling to obtain an IRS ruling, we may choose to acquire such business or develop such expansion project in a corporate subsidiary of CVR Partners, which would subject the income related to such activity to entity-level taxation, which would reduce the amount of
cash available for distribution to CVR Partners’ common unitholders and could likely cause a substantial reduction in the value of its common units.
Failure to manage these acquisition and expansion growth risks could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. Our joint ventures involve similar risks. There can be no assurance that we will be able to consummate any acquisitions or expansions, successfully integrate acquired entities, or generate positive cash flow at any acquired company or expansion project.
Risks Related to the Petroleum Segment
If our Petroleum Segment is required to obtain its crude oil supply without the benefit of a crude oil supply agreement, its exposure to the risks associated with volatile crude oil prices may increase and its liquidity may be reduced.
Our Petroleum Segment obtains substantially all of its crude oil supply for the Coffeyville Refinery, other than the crude oil it gathers, through the Vitol Agreement. The Vitol Agreement also includes the provision of crude oil intermediation services to the Wynnewood Refinery. The agreement, which currently extends through December 31, 2020, minimizes the amount of in-transit inventory and mitigates crude oil pricing risk by ensuring pricing takes place close to the time the crude oil is refined and the yielded products are sold. If we were required to obtain our crude oil supply without the benefit of a supply intermediation agreement, our Petroleum Segment’s exposure to crude oil pricing risk may increase, despite any hedging activity in which it may engage, and its liquidity could be negatively impacted due to increased inventory, potential need to post letters of credit, and negative impacts of market volatility. There is no assurance that we will be able to renew or extend the Vitol Agreement beyond December 31, 2020.
Disruption of the Petroleum Segment’s ability to obtain an adequate supply of crude oil could reduce its liquidity and increase its costs.
In addition to the crude oil purchased under the Vitol Agreement, our Petroleum Segment gathered and purchased primarily in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. The Wynnewood Refinery has historically acquired most of its crude oil from our gathering operations in Oklahoma and Texas, with smaller amounts purchased from other regions. In 2019, the Coffeyville Refinery obtained approximately 4% of its non-gathered crude oil from Canada. The actual amount of Canadian crude oil we purchase is dependent on market conditions and will vary from year-to-year. Disruption of production for any reason could have a material impact on the Petroleum Segment. In the event that one or more of its traditional suppliers becomes unavailable, we may be unable to obtain an adequate supply of crude oil, or we may only be able to obtain crude oil at unfavorable prices. As a result, we may experience a reduction in liquidity and our results of operations could be materially adversely affected.
If our access to the pipelines on which the Petroleum Segment relies for the supply of its crude oil and the distribution of its products is interrupted, its inventory and costs may increase and it may be unable to efficiently distribute its products.
If one of the pipelines on which either of the Refineries relies for supply of crude oil becomes inoperative, the Petroleum Segment would be required to obtain crude oil through alternative pipelines or from additional tanker trucks, which could increase its costs and result in lower production levels and profitability. Similarly, if a major refined fuels pipeline becomes inoperative, we would be required to keep refined fuels in inventory or supply refined fuels to its customers through an alternative pipeline or by additional tanker trucks, which could increase the Petroleum Segment’s costs and result in a decline in profitability.
Compliance with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Renewable Fuel Standard could adversely affect our performance.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) has promulgated and implemented a Renewable Fuel Standard (“RFS”) pursuant to the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. Under the RFS program, a Renewable Identification Number (“RIN”) is assigned to each gallon of renewable fuel produced in or imported into the U.S. The RFS program sets annual mandates for the volume of renewable fuels (such as ethanol and biodiesel) that must be blended into a refiner’s transportation fuels. If a refiner of petroleum-based transportation fuels is unable to meet its renewable fuel mandate though blending, it must purchase RINs in the open market to meet its obligations under the RFS program.
Our Petroleum Segment is exposed to the volatility in the market price of RINs, which can be extreme. We cannot predict the future prices of RINs. RIN prices are dependent upon a variety of factors, including EPA regulations, the availability of RINs for purchase, and levels of transportation fuels produced, the mix of the petroleum business’ petroleum products, as well as the fuel blending performed at the Refineries and downstream terminals, all of which can vary significantly from period to period. Additionally, because the petroleum business does not produce renewable fuels, increasing the volume of renewable fuels that must be blended into its products displaces an increasing volume of the Refineries’ product pool, potentially resulting in lower earnings and materially adversely affecting the petroleum business’ cash flows. If sufficient RINs are unavailable for purchase, if the Petroleum Segment has to pay a significantly higher price for RINs, or if the Petroleum Segment is otherwise unable to meet the EPA’s RFS mandates or is unable to participate in programs relieving compliance with RFS obligations, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected. For the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018, and 2017, we recognized expense totaling $43 million, $60 million, and $249 million, respectively, to comply with RFS. Based upon recent market prices of RINs and current estimates related to the other variable factors, our estimated cost to comply with RFS in 2020 is $100 to $110 million.
Changes in CVR Refining’s credit profile may affect its relationship with its suppliers, which could have a material adverse effect on our liquidity and ability to operate the Refineries at full capacity.
Changes in CVR Refining’s credit profile may affect the way crude oil suppliers view our ability to make payments and may induce them to shorten the payment terms for purchases or require it to post security prior to payment. Given the large dollar amounts and volume of our crude oil and other feedstock purchases, a burdensome change in payment terms may have a material adverse effect on liquidity and our ability to make payments to suppliers. This, in turn, could cause us to be unable to operate the Refineries at full capacity. A failure to operate at full capacity could adversely affect our profitability and cash flows.
The Petroleum Segment’s commodity derivative contracts may limit potential gains, exacerbate potential losses, and involve other risks.
We may enter into commodity derivatives contracts to mitigate crack spread risk with respect to a portion of expected refined products production. However, hedging arrangements, if we are able to procure them, may fail to fully achieve this objective for a variety of reasons, including its failure to have adequate hedging contracts, if any, in effect at any particular time and the failure of hedging arrangements to produce the anticipated results. Moreover, such transactions may limit our ability to benefit from favorable changes in margins. In addition, our hedging activities may expose us to the risk of financial loss in certain circumstances, including instances in which:
•the volumes of its actual use of crude oil or production of the applicable refined products is less than the volumes subject to the hedging arrangement;
•accidents, interruptions in transportation, inclement weather, or other events cause unscheduled shutdowns or otherwise adversely affect a refinery, suppliers, or customers;
•the counterparties to its futures contracts fail to perform under the contracts; or
•a sudden, unexpected event materially impacts the commodity or crack spread subject to the hedging arrangement.
As a result, the effectiveness of our risk mitigation strategy could have a material adverse impact on our financial results and cash flows.
Additionally, since we do not apply hedge accounting to its commodity derivative contracts, gains and losses are charged to its earnings based on the increase or decrease in the market value of derivative positions. Such gains and losses are reflected in its income statement in periods that differ from when the underlying hedged items (i.e., gross margin) are reflected in our income statement. Such derivative gains or losses in earnings may produce significant period-to-period earnings volatility that is not necessarily reflective of our Petroleum Segment’s operational performance.
We must make substantial capital expenditures in the Refineries and other facilities to maintain their reliability and efficiency. If we are unable to complete capital projects at their expected costs and/or in a timely manner, or if the market conditions assumed in project economics deteriorate, our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows could be adversely affected.
Our Refineries have been in operation for many years. Equipment, even if properly maintained, may require significant capital expenditures and expenses to keep operating at optimum efficiency. These refineries generally require facility turnaround every four to five years. Delays or cost increases related to the engineering, procurement, and construction of new facilities, or improvements and repairs to existing facilities and equipment, could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. Such delays or cost increases may arise as a result of unpredictable factors in the marketplace, many of which are beyond our control, including:
•denial or delay in obtaining regulatory approvals and/or permits;
•unplanned increases in the cost of equipment, materials, or labor;
•disruptions in transportation of equipment and materials;
•severe adverse weather conditions, natural disasters, or other events (such as equipment malfunctions, explosions, fires, or spills) affecting our facilities, or those of vendors and suppliers;
•shortages of sufficiently skilled labor or labor disagreements resulting in unplanned work stoppages;
•market-related increases in a project’s debt or equity financing costs; and/or
•non-performance or force majeure by, or disputes with, the Petroleum Segment’s vendors, suppliers, contractors, or sub-contractors.
Any one or more of these occurrences noted above could have a significant impact on our petroleum business. If we are unable to make up for the delays or to recover the related costs, or if market conditions change, we could materially and adversely affect our financial position, results of operations or cash flows.
More stringent trucking regulations may increase our petroleum business’ costs and negatively impact results of operations.
In connection with the trucking operations conducted by our crude gathering division, our petroleum business operates as a motor carrier and, therefore, is subject to regulation by federal and various state agencies. These regulatory authorities exercise broad powers, governing activities such as the authorization to engage in motor carrier operations and regulatory safety, and hazardous materials labeling, placarding, and marking. There are additional regulations specifically relating to the trucking industry, including testing and specification of equipment and product handling requirements. The trucking industry is subject to possible regulatory and legislative changes that may affect the economics of the industry. Some of these possible changes include increasingly stringent fuel-economy environmental regulations, changes in the hours of service regulations that govern the amount of time a driver may drive in any specific period, onboard black box recorder or electronic logging devices, or limits on vehicle weight and size.
To a large degree, intrastate motor carrier operations are subject to state safety regulations that mirror federal regulations. Furthermore, from time to time, various legislative proposals are introduced, such as proposals to increase federal, state or local taxes, including taxes on motor fuels, which may increase our costs or adversely impact the recruitment of drivers. We cannot predict whether, or in what form, any increase in such taxes will be enacted or the extent to which they will apply to our Petroleum Segment and its operations.
Risks Related to the Nitrogen Fertilizer Segment
Any decline in U.S. agricultural production or limitations on the use of nitrogen fertilizer for agricultural purposes could have a material adverse effect on the sales of nitrogen fertilizer, and on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
Conditions in the U.S. agricultural industry significantly impact our operating results. The U.S. agricultural industry can be affected by a number of factors, including weather patterns and field conditions, current and projected grain inventories and prices, domestic and international population changes, demand for U.S. agricultural products, and U.S. and foreign policies regarding trade in agricultural products. For example, a major factor underlying the solid level of demand for nitrogen-based fertilizer products we produce is the use of corn for the production of ethanol in the U.S. Changes in governmental incentives for ethanol production could affect future ethanol demand and production.
State and federal governmental policies, including farm and biofuel subsidies and commodity support programs, as well as the prices of fertilizer products, may also directly or indirectly influence the number of acres planted, the mix of crops planted,
and the use of fertilizers for particular agricultural applications. Developments in crop technology could also reduce the use of chemical fertilizers and adversely affect the demand for nitrogen fertilizer. In addition, from time to time various state legislatures have considered limitations on the use and application of chemical fertilizers due to concerns about the impact of these products on the environment. Unfavorable state and federal governmental policies could negatively affect nitrogen fertilizer prices and therefore have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
Ethanol production in the United States is highly dependent upon a myriad of federal statutes and regulations, and is made significantly more competitive by various federal and state incentives and mandated usage of renewable fuels pursuant to the EPA’s RFS. To date, the RFS has been satisfied primarily with corn-based fuel ethanol blended into gasoline. However, a number of factors, including the continuing “food versus fuel” debate and studies showing that expanded ethanol usage may increase the level of GHGs in the environment, cause harmful conversion of uncultivated land for biofuel crop productions, and be unsuitable for small engine use, have resulted in calls to reduce subsidies for ethanol, allow increased ethanol imports, and to repeal or waive (in whole or in part) the current RFS. Changes within the RFS program also could affect future ethanol demand and production. Further, while most ethanol is currently produced from corn and other raw grains, such as milo or sorghum, the RFS requires that a portion of the overall RFS renewable fuel mandate come from advanced biofuels, including cellulose-based biomass, such as agricultural waste, forest residue, and municipal solid waste. In addition, there is a continuing trend to encourage the use of products other than corn and raw grains for ethanol production. The repeal of, or reduction in the benefits to ethanol producers under, ethanol incentive programs, an increase in ethanol imports, a substantial decrease in future RVOs under the RFS program, or a significant increase in the use of products other than corn and raw grains for ethanol production could affect the demand for corn-based ethanol and result in a decrease in planted corn acreage and in the demand for nitrogen fertilizer products and have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
Our Coffeyville Facility may be adversely affected by the supply and price levels of pet coke. Failure by CVR Energy’s Coffeyville Refinery to continue to supply us with pet coke and the availability of third-party pet coke at higher prices could negatively impact our results of operations.
Unlike our competitors, whose primary costs are related to the purchase of natural gas and whose costs are therefore largely variable, our Coffeyville Fertilizer Facility uses a pet coke gasification process to produce nitrogen fertilizer. Our profitability is directly affected by the price and availability of pet coke obtained from our Coffeyville Refinery pursuant to a long-term agreement. Our Coffeyville Fertilizer Facility has obtained the majority of its pet coke from our Coffeyville Refinery over the past five years, although has decreased to 40% in 2019. However, should our Coffeyville Refinery fail to perform in accordance with the existing agreement or to the extent pet coke from the Coffeyville Refinery is insufficient, we would need to purchase pet coke from third parties on the open market, which could negatively impact our results of operations to the extent third-party pet coke is unavailable or available only at higher prices. Currently, we purchase 100% of the pet coke our Coffeyville Refinery produces. However, we are still required to procure additional pet coke from third parties to maintain our production rates. We are currently party to pet coke supply agreements with multiple third-party refineries to provide a significant amount of pet coke at fixed prices. The terms of these agreements currently end in December 2020.
The market for natural gas has been volatile, and fluctuations in natural gas prices could affect our competitive position.
Low natural gas prices benefit our competitors that rely on natural gas as their primary feedstock and disproportionately impact our operations at our Coffeyville Fertilizer Facility by making us less competitive with natural gas-based nitrogen fertilizer manufacturers. Continued low natural gas prices could result in nitrogen fertilizer pricing drops and impair the ability of the Coffeyville Fertilizer Facility to compete with other nitrogen fertilizer producers who use natural gas as their primary feedstock, which, therefore, would have a material adverse impact on the Nitrogen Fertilizer Segment’s results of operations, financial condition and ability to make cash distributions.
The East Dubuque Fertilizer Facility uses natural gas as its primary feedstock, and as such, the profitability of operating the East Dubuque Fertilizer Facility is significantly dependent on the cost of natural gas. An increase in natural gas prices could make it less competitive with producers who do not use natural gas as their primary feedstock. In addition, an increase in natural gas prices in the United States relative to prices of natural gas paid by foreign nitrogen fertilizer producers may negatively affect our competitive position in the corn belt, and such changes could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
We expect to purchase a portion of our natural gas for use in the East Dubuque Fertilizer Facility on the spot market. As a result, we remain susceptible to fluctuations in the price of natural gas in general and in local markets in particular. We may use
fixed supply, fixed price forward purchase contracts to lock in pricing for a portion of its natural gas requirements, but we may not be able to enter into such agreements on acceptable terms or at all. Without forward purchase contracts for the supply of natural gas, we would need to purchase natural gas on the spot market, which would impair its ability to hedge exposure to risk from fluctuations in natural gas prices. If we enter into forward purchase contracts for natural gas, and natural gas prices decrease, then its cost of sales could be higher than it would have been in the absence of the forward purchase contracts.
Any interruption in the supply of natural gas to our East Dubuque Fertilizer Facility could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.
Our East Dubuque Fertilizer Facility depends on the availability of natural gas. We have an agreement with Nicor Gas (“Nicor”) pursuant to which we access natural gas from the ANR Pipeline Company and Northern Natural Gas pipelines. Our access to satisfactory supplies of natural gas through Nicor could be disrupted due to a number of causes, including volume limitations under the agreement, pipeline malfunctions, service interruptions, mechanical failures or other reasons. The agreement currently extends through February 29, 2020. Upon expiration of the agreement, we may be unable to extend the service under the terms of the existing agreement or renew the agreement on satisfactory terms, or at all. Any disruption in the supply of natural gas to our East Dubuque Fertilizer Facility could restrict our ability to continue to make products at the facility. In the event we need to obtain natural gas from another source, we may need to build a new connection from that source to the East Dubuque Fertilizer Facility and negotiate related easement rights, which would be costly, disruptive and/or may be unfeasible. As a result, any interruption in the supply of natural gas through Nicor could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.
If licensed technology were no longer available, our business may be adversely affected.
We have licensed, and may in the future license, a combination of patent, trade secret, and other intellectual property rights of third parties for use in our plant operations. If any license agreement on which our operations rely were to be terminated, licenses to alternative technology may not be available, or may only be available on terms that are not commercially reasonable or acceptable. In addition, any substitution of new technology for currently-licensed technology may require substantial changes to manufacturing processes or equipment and may have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
Additionally, we may face claims of infringement that could interfere with our ability to use technology that is material to our plant operations. Any litigation of this type related to third-party intellectual property rights could result in substantial costs and diversions of resources, either of which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. In the event a claim of infringement against us is successful, we may be required to pay royalties or license fees for past or continued use of the infringing technology, or we may be prohibited from using the infringing technology altogether. If we are prohibited from using any technology as a result of such a claim, we may not be able to obtain licenses to alternative technology adequate to substitute for the technology we can no longer use, or licenses for such alternative technology may only be available on terms that are not commercially reasonable or acceptable. In addition, any substitution of new technology for currently-licensed technology may require us to make substantial changes to its manufacturing processes or equipment or to our products, and could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
Our operations are dependent on third-party suppliers, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
Operations of our Coffeyville Fertilizer Facility depend in large part on the performance of third-party suppliers, and the operations of the Coffeyville Fertilizer Facility could be adversely affected if the operation of the third-party air separation plant located adjacent to it were disrupted. Additionally, this air separation plant has experienced numerous short-term interruptions in the past, causing interruptions in our gasifier operations. With respect to electricity, we are party to an electric services agreement with a third-party supplier through June 30, 2029.
Our East Dubuque Fertilizer Facility operations also depend in large part on the performance of third-party suppliers, including for the purchase of electricity. We entered into a utility service agreement, which terminates on June 1, 2022 and will continue year-to-year thereafter unless either party provides 12-month advance written notice of termination.
Should any of our other third-party suppliers fail to perform in accordance with existing contractual arrangements, or should we otherwise lose the service of any third-party suppliers, our operations (or a portion thereof) could be forced to halt. Alternative sources of supply could be difficult to obtain. Any shutdown of our operations (or a portion thereof), even for a limited period, could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and ability to make cash distributions.
We rely on third-party providers of transportation services and equipment, which subjects the Nitrogen Fertilizer Segment to risks and uncertainties beyond its control that may have a material adverse effect on its results of operations, financial condition and ability to make distributions.
Our business relies on railroad and trucking companies to ship finished products to customers of the Coffeyville Fertilizer Facility. We also lease railcars from railcar owners to ship its finished products. Additionally, although customers of the East Dubuque Fertilizer Facility generally pick up products at the facility, the facility occasionally relies on barge, truck and railroad companies to ship products to customers. These transportation operations, equipment and services are subject to various hazards, including extreme weather conditions, work stoppages, delays, spills, derailments and other accidents, and other operating hazards. Further, the limited number of towing companies and barges available for ammonia transport may also impact the availability of transportation for our Nitrogen Fertilizer Segment’s products. These transportation operations, equipment and services are also subject to environmental, safety and other regulatory oversight. Due to concerns related to terrorism or accidents, local, state and federal governments could implement new regulations affecting the transportation of our finished products. In addition, new regulations could be implemented affecting the equipment used to ship its finished products.
Any delay in our ability to ship its finished products as a result of these transportation companies’ failure to operate properly, the implementation of new and more stringent regulatory requirements affecting transportation operations or equipment, or significant increases in the cost of these services or equipment could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and ability to make cash distributions.
Ammonia can be very volatile and extremely hazardous. Any liability for accidents involving ammonia or other products we produce or transport that cause severe damage to property or injury to the environment and human health could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and ability to make cash distributions. In addition, the costs of transporting ammonia could increase significantly in the future.
Our business manufactures, processes, stores, handles, distributes and transports ammonia, which can be very volatile and extremely hazardous. Major accidents or releases involving ammonia could cause severe damage or injury to property, the environment, and human health, as well as a possible disruption of supplies and markets. Such an event could result in civil lawsuits, fines, penalties and regulatory enforcement proceedings, all of which could lead to significant liabilities. Any damage or injury to persons, equipment or property or other disruption of our ability to produce or distribute products could result in a significant decrease in operating revenues and significant additional costs to replace or repair and insure our assets, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and ability to make cash distributions. Our facilities periodically experience minor releases of ammonia related to leaks from our facilities’ equipment. Similar events may occur in the future.
In addition, we may incur significant losses or costs relating to the operation of railcars used for the purpose of carrying various products, including ammonia. Due to the dangerous and potentially hazardous nature of the cargo, in particular ammonia, a railcar accident may result in fires, explosions, and releases of material which could lead to sudden, severe damage or injury to property, the environment, and human health. In the event of contamination, under environmental law, we may be held responsible even if we are not at fault, and we complied with the laws and regulations in effect at the time of the accident. Litigation arising from accidents involving ammonia and other products we produce or transport may result in us being named as a defendant in lawsuits asserting claims for substantial damages, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and ability to make cash distributions.
Risks Related to Our Capital Structure
Internally generated cash flows and other sources of liquidity may not be adequate for the capital needs of our businesses.
Our businesses are capital intensive, and working capital needs may vary significantly over relatively short periods of time. For instance, crude oil price volatility can significantly impact working capital on a week-to-week and month-to-month basis. If
we cannot generate adequate cash flow or otherwise secure sufficient liquidity to meet our working capital needs or support our short-term and long-term capital requirements, we may be unable to meet our debt obligations, pursue our business strategies, or comply with certain environmental standards, which would have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
Instability and volatility in the capital, credit, and commodity markets in the global economy could negatively impact our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Our business, financial condition and results of operations could be negatively impacted by difficult conditions and volatility in the capital, credit, and commodities markets and in the global economy. For example:
•Although we believe CVR Refining has sufficient liquidity under its Amended and Restated ABL Credit Facility to operate the Refineries and CVR Partners has sufficient liquidity under its AB Credit Facility to run the Nitrogen Fertilizer Segment, there can be no assurance that such funds would be available or sufficient, and in such a case, we may not be able to successfully obtain additional financing on favorable terms, or at all.
•Market volatility could exert downward pressure on the price of CVR Partners’ common units, which may make it more difficult for us to raise additional capital and thereby limit its ability to grow, which could in turn cause CVR Energy’s stock and/or CVR Partners’ unit price to drop.
•Market conditions could result in significant customers experiencing financial difficulties. We are exposed to the credit risk of our customers, and their failure to meet their financial obligations when due because of bankruptcy, lack of liquidity, operational failure, or other reasons could result in decreased sales and earnings for us.
CVR Energy, CVR Refining, and CVR Partners’ level of indebtedness may increase and affect our ability to operate their respective businesses. In addition, this may have a material adverse effect on our and their financial flexibility, financial condition and results of operations.
As of December 31, 2019, we had total indebtedness outstanding of $1,195 million, including CVR Partners’ $647 million of senior notes and CVR Refining’s $500 million of senior notes. We had approximately $50 million in availability under CVR Partners’ AB Credit Facility and $393 million in availability under CVR Refining’s Amended and Restated ABL Credit Facility, which includes a $7 million reduction in availability for issued letters of credit. On January 27, 2020, CVR Energy issued $600 million and $400 million of senior notes due 2025 and 2028, respectively, and redeemed CVR Refining’s outstanding $500 million of senior notes due 2022. As of January 31, 2020, our total indebtedness was $1,691 million, including CVR Partners’ $647 million of senior notes and CVR Energy’s $1,000 million of senior notes.
We may be able to incur substantially more debt in the future, including secured indebtedness. Although existing credit facilities contain restrictions on the occurrence of additional indebtedness, these restrictions are subject to a number of qualifications and exceptions and, under certain circumstances, indebtedness incurred in compliance with these restrictions could be substantial. Also, these restrictions may not prevent incurring new obligations that do not constitute indebtedness. To the extent such new debt or new obligations are added to existing indebtedness, the risks described below could substantially increase. The level of indebtedness could have important consequences, including the following:
•limiting our ability to obtain additional financing to fund working capital needs, capital expenditures, debt service requirements, acquisitions, general corporate, or other purposes;
•requiring us to utilize a significant portion of cash flows to service indebtedness, thereby reducing our funds available for operations, future business opportunities, and distributions to us and public common unitholders of CVR Partners;
•limiting our ability to use operating cash flow in other areas of our business because we must dedicate a substantial portion of these funds to service debt;
•limiting our ability to compete with other companies who are not as highly leveraged, as we may be less capable of responding to adverse economic and industry conditions;
•limiting our ability to make certain payments on debt that is subordinated or secured on a junior basis;
•restricting us from making strategic acquisitions or investments, introducing new technologies or exploiting business opportunities;
•restricting the way in which we conduct business because of financial and operating covenants in the agreements governing existing and future indebtedness, including borrowing additional funds, disposing of assets, and in the case of certain indebtedness of subsidiaries, restricting the ability of subsidiaries to pay dividends or make distributions;
•limiting our ability to enter into certain transactions with our affiliates;
•limiting our ability to designate our subsidiaries as unrestricted subsidiaries;
•exposing us to potential events of default (if not cured or waived) under financial and operating covenants contained in their or their respective subsidiaries’ debt instruments that could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results;
•increasing our vulnerability to general adverse economic and industry conditions or adverse pricing of products;
•increasing the likelihood for a reduction in the borrowing base under CVR Refining’s Amended and Restated ABL Credit Facility following a periodic redetermination could require us to repay a portion of our then-outstanding bank borrowings; and
•limiting our ability to react to changing market conditions in our industries and in respective customers’ industries.
Covenants in our debt agreements could limit our ability to incur additional indebtedness and engage in certain transaction, as well as limit the flexibility in operating the respective business, which could adversely affect our liquidity and ability to pursue our business strategies. In the case of CVR Partners, this may also limit the ability to make distributions to unitholders.
Our debt facilities and instruments contain, and any instruments governing future indebtedness would likely contain, a number of covenants that impose significant operating and financial restrictions on us and our subsidiaries and may limit our ability to engage in acts that may be in our long-term best interest, including restrictions on the ability, among other things, to:
•incur, assume, or guarantee additional indebtedness or issue redeemable or preferred stock;
•pay dividends or distributions in respect of equity securities or make other restricted payments;
•prepay, redeem, or repurchase certain debt;
•enter into agreements that restrict distributions from restricted subsidiaries
•make certain payments on debt that is subordinated or secured on a junior basis;
•make certain investments;
•sell or otherwise dispose of assets, including capital stock of subsidiaries;
•create liens on certain assets;
•consolidate, merge, sell, or otherwise dispose of all or substantially all assets;
•enter into certain transactions with affiliates; and
•designate subsidiaries as unrestricted subsidiaries.
Any of these restrictions could limit our ability to plan for or react to market conditions and could otherwise restrict operating activities. Any failure to comply with these covenants could result in a default under existing debt facilities and instruments. Upon a default, unless waived, the lenders under such debt facilities and instruments would have all remedies available to a secured lender and could elect to terminate their commitments, cease making further loans, institute foreclosure proceedings against assets, and force bankruptcy or liquidation, subject to any applicable intercreditor agreements. In addition, a default under existing debt facilities and instruments would trigger a cross default under other agreements and could trigger a cross default under the agreements governing future indebtedness. Our operating segments’ results may not be sufficient to service existing indebtedness or to fund other expenditures, and we may not be able to obtain financing to meet these requirements.
CVR Energy and the Nitrogen Fertilizer Segment may not be able to generate sufficient cash to service existing indebtedness and may be forced to take other actions to satisfy debt obligations that may not be successful.
CVR Energy’s and the Nitrogen Fertilizer Segment’s ability to satisfy existing debt obligations will depend upon, among other things:
•future financial and operating performance, which will be affected by prevailing economic conditions and financial, business, regulatory, and other factors, many of which are beyond our control;
•future ability to borrow under CVR Refining’s Amended and Restated ABL Credit Facility and CVR Partners’ AB Credit Facility, the availability of which depends on, among other things, complying with the covenants in the applicable facility; and
•future ability to obtain other financing.
We cannot offer any assurance that our businesses will generate sufficient cash flow from operations, that our Petroleum Segment will be able to draw under its Amended and Restated ABL Credit Facility or that our Nitrogen Fertilizer Segment will be able to draw under its AB Credit Facility or otherwise, or from other sources of financing, in an amount sufficient to fund respective liquidity needs. In addition, our board of directors may in the future elect to pursue other strategic options including acquisitions of other businesses or asset purchases, which would reduce cash available to service our debt obligations.
If cash flows and capital resources are insufficient to service existing indebtedness, we may be forced to reduce or delay capital expenditures, sell assets, seek additional capital, restructure or refinance existing indebtedness, or seek bankruptcy protection. These alternative measures may not be successful and may not permit the meeting of scheduled debt service and other obligations. Our ability to restructure or refinance debt will depend on the condition of the capital markets and our financial condition, including that of our operating segments, at such time. Any refinancing of existing debt could be at higher interest rates and may require compliance with more onerous covenants, which could further restrict business operations.
The borrowings under CVR Refining’s Amended and Restated ABL Credit Facility and CVR Partners’ AB Credit Facility bear interest at variable rates and other debt we or they incur could likewise be variable-rate debt. If market interest rates increase, variable-rate debt will create higher debt service requirements, which could adversely affect our cash flow and/or distributions to us. Although we may enter into agreements limiting exposure to higher interest rates, any such agreements may not offer complete protection from this risk.
We are authorized to issue up to a total of 350 million shares of our common stock and 50 million shares of preferred stock, potentially diluting equity ownership of current holders and the share price of our common stock.
We maintain a sufficient number of available authorized shares of our common stock and preferred stock to provide us with the flexibility to issue common stock or preferred stock for business purposes that may arise as deemed advisable by our board of directors, including (i) future stock dividends or stock splits, which may increase the liquidity of our shares; (ii) the sale of stock to obtain additional capital or to acquire other companies or businesses, which could enhance our growth strategy or allow us to reduce debt, if needed; (iii) for use in additional stock incentive programs; and (iv) for other bona fide purposes. Our board of directors may authorize us to issue the available authorized shares of common stock or preferred stock without notice to, or further action by, our stockholders, unless stockholder approval is required by law or the rules of the NYSE. The issuance of additional shares of common stock or preferred stock may significantly dilute the equity ownership of the current holders of our common stock.
Our ability to pay dividends on our common stock is subject to market conditions and numerous other factors.
In January 2013, our board of directors adopted a quarterly dividend policy. We began paying regular quarterly dividends in the second quarter of 2013. Dividends are subject to change at the discretion of the board of directors and may change from quarter to quarter. Our ability to continue paying dividends is subject to our ability to continue to generate sufficient cash flow from our operating segments, and the amount of dividends we are able to pay each year may vary, possibly substantially, based on market conditions, crack spreads, our capital expenditure and other business needs, covenants contained in any debt agreements we may enter into in the future, covenants contained in existing debt agreements, and the amount of distributions we receive from CVR Partners. We may not be able to continue paying dividends at the rate we currently pay dividends or at all. If the amount of our dividends decreases, the trading price of our common stock could be materially adversely affected as a result.
Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure
We are a holding company and depend upon our subsidiaries for our cash flow.
We are a holding company, and our subsidiaries conduct substantially all of our operations and own substantially all of our assets. Consequently, our cash flow and our ability to meet our obligations or to pay dividends or make other distributions in the future will depend upon the cash flow of our subsidiaries and the payment of funds by our subsidiaries to us in the form of distributions. The ability of CVR Partners to make any payments to us will depend on, among other things, their earnings, the terms of existing indebtedness (including the terms of any debt facilities and instruments), tax considerations, and legal restrictions.
Mr. Carl C. Icahn exerts significant influence over the Company, and his interests may conflict with the interests of the Company’s other stockholders.
Mr. Carl C. Icahn indirectly controls approximately 71% of the voting power of our common stock and, by virtue of such stock ownership, is able to control or exert substantial influence over the Company, including:
•the election and appointment of directors;
•business strategy and policies;
•mergers or other business combinations;
•acquisition or disposition of assets;
•future issuances of common stock, common units, or other securities;
•occurrence of debt or obtaining other sources of financing; and
•the payment of dividends on the Company’s common stock and distributions on the common units of CVR Partners.
The existence of a controlling stockholder may have the effect of making it difficult for, or may discourage or delay, a third-party from seeking to acquire a majority of the Company’s outstanding common stock, which may adversely affect the market price of the Company’s common stock.
Mr. Icahn’s interests may not always be consistent with the Company’s interests or with the interests of the Company’s other stockholders. Mr. Icahn and entities controlled by him may also pursue acquisitions or business opportunities in industries in which we compete, and there is no requirement that any additional business opportunities be presented to us. We also have and may in the future enter into transactions to purchase goods or services with affiliates of Mr. Icahn. To the extent that conflicts of interest may arise between the Company and Mr. Icahn and his affiliates, those conflicts may be resolved in a manner adverse to the Company or its other stockholders.
In addition, if Mr. Icahn were to sell, or otherwise transfer, some or all of his interests in us to an unrelated party or group, a change of control could be deemed to have occurred under the terms of the indenture governing CVR Energy’s 5.250% and 5.750% Senior Notes, which would require it to offer to repurchase all outstanding notes at 101% of their principal amount plus accrued interest to the date of repurchase, and an event of default could be deemed to have occurred under CVR Refining’s Amended and Restated ABL Credit Facility, which would allow lenders to accelerate indebtedness owed to them. However, it is possible that we will not have sufficient funds at the time of the change of control to make the required repurchase of notes or repay amounts outstanding under CVR Refining’s Amended and Restated ABL Credit Facility, if any.
Our stock price may decline due to sales of shares by Mr. Carl C. Icahn.
Sales of substantial amounts of the Company’s common stock, or the perception that these sales may occur, may adversely affect the price of the Company’s common stock and impede its ability to raise capital through the issuance of equity securities in the future. Mr. Icahn could elect in the future to request that the Company file a registration statement to him to sell shares of the Company’s common stock. If Mr. Icahn were to sell a large number of shares into the public markets, Mr. Icahn could cause the price of the Company’s common stock to decline.
We are a “controlled company” within the meaning of the NYSE rules and, as a result, qualify for, and are relying on, exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements.
A company of which more than 50% of the voting power is held by an individual, a group, or another company is a “controlled company” within the meaning of the NYSE rules and may elect not to comply with certain corporate governance requirements of the NYSE, including:
•the requirement that a majority of our board of directors consist of independent directors;
•the requirement that we have a nominating/corporate governance committee that is composed entirely of independent directors; and
•the requirement that we have a compensation committee that is composed entirely of independent directors.
We are relying on all of these exemptions as a controlled company. Accordingly, you may not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to all of the corporate governance requirements of the NYSE. In addition, CVR Partners is relying on exemptions from the same NYSE corporate governance requirements described above.
We have various mechanisms in place to discourage takeover attempts, which may reduce or eliminate our stockholders’ ability to sell their shares for a premium in a change of control transaction.
Various provisions of our amended certificate of incorporation and second amended and restated bylaws and of Delaware corporate law may discourage, delay, or prevent a change in control or takeover attempt of our Company by a third-party that our management and board of directors determines is not in the best interest of our Company and its stockholders. Public stockholders who might desire to participate in such a transaction may not have the opportunity to do so. These anti-takeover provisions could substantially impede the ability of public stockholders to benefit from a change of control or change in our management and board of directors. These provisions include:
•preferred stock that could be issued by our board of directors to make it more difficult for a third-party to acquire, or to discourage a third-party from acquiring, a majority of our outstanding voting stock;
•limitations on the ability of stockholders to call special meetings of stockholders;
•limitations on the ability of stockholders to act by written consent in lieu of a stockholders’ meeting; and
•advance notice requirements for nominations of candidates for election to our board of directors or for proposing matters that can be acted upon by our stockholders at stockholder meetings.
Compliance with and changes in the tax laws could adversely affect our performance.
We are subject to extensive tax liabilities, including United States and state income taxes and transactional taxes such as excise, sales/use, payroll, franchise, and withholding taxes. New tax laws and regulations are continuously being enacted or proposed that could result in increased expenditures for tax liabilities in the future.
Risks Related to Our Ownership in CVR Partners
If CVR Partners were to be treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes or if it becomes subject to entity-level taxation for state tax purposes, its cash available for distribution to its common unitholders, including to us, would be substantially reduced, likely causing a substantial reduction in the value of its common units, including the common units held by us.
The anticipated after-tax economic benefit of an investment in common units of CVR Partners depends largely on it being treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Despite the fact that CVR Partners is organized as a limited partnership under Delaware law, it would be treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes unless it satisfies a “qualifying income” requirement. CVR Partners may not find it possible to meet this qualifying income requirement, may inadvertently fail to meet this qualifying income requirement, or a change in current law could cause CVR Partners to be treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes or otherwise subject CVR Partners to entity-level taxation.
If CVR Partners were to be treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, it would pay U.S. federal income tax on all of its taxable income at the corporate tax rate. Distributions to its common unitholders (including us) would generally be taxed again as corporate distributions, and no income, gains, losses, or deductions would flow through to such common unitholders. Because a tax would be imposed upon CVR Partners as a corporation, its cash available for distribution to its common unitholders would be substantially reduced. Therefore, treatment of CVR Partners as a corporation would result in a material reduction in the anticipated cash flow and after-tax return to its common unitholders (including us), likely causing a substantial reduction in the value of such common units.
We may have liability to repay distributions that are wrongfully distributed to us.
Under certain circumstances, we may, as a holder of common units in CVR Partners, have to repay amounts wrongfully returned or distributed to us. Under the Delaware Revised Uniform Limited Partnership Act, a partnership may not make distributions to its unitholders if the distribution would cause its liabilities to exceed the fair value of its assets. Delaware law provides that for a period of three years from the date of an impermissible distribution, limited partners who received the
distribution and who knew at the time of the distribution that it violated Delaware law will be liable to the company for the distribution amount.
Public investors own approximately 66% of the Nitrogen Fertilizer Segment through CVR Partners. Although we own the general partner of CVR Partners, the general partner owes a duty of good faith to public unitholders, which could cause them to manage their respective businesses differently than if there were no public unitholders.
Public investors own approximately 66% of CVR Partners’ common units. We are not entitled to receive all of the cash generated by CVR Partners or freely transfer money to finance operations at the Petroleum Segment. Furthermore, although we own the general partner of CVR Partners, the general partner is subject to certain fiduciary duties, which may require the general partner to manage its business in a way that may differ from our best interests.
CVR Partners is managed by the executive officers of its general partner, some of whom are employed by and serve as part of the senior management team of the Company. Conflicts of interest could arise as a result of this arrangement.
CVR Partners is managed by the executive officers of its general partner, some of whom are employed by and serve as part of the senior management team of the Company. Furthermore, although CVR Partners has entered into services agreements with the Company under which it compensates the Company for the services of its management, our management is not required to devote any specific amount of time to the Nitrogen Fertilizer Segment and may devote a substantial majority of their time to other business of the Company. Moreover, the Company may terminate the services agreement with CVR Partners at any time, in each case subject to a 180-day notice period. In addition, key executive officers of the Company, including its president and chief executive officer, chief financial officer, and general counsel, will face conflicts of interest if decisions arise in which CVR Partners and the Company have conflicting points of view or interests.