CVR Energy

This Texan petroleum refiner (and fertilizer producer) had a bumper year in 2012 as a result of its 2011 acquisition of another refinery in Oklahoma. The new facility boosted CVR’s existing production capacity of 115,000 barrels per day capacity by an additional 70,000 barrels. Crude oil was cheap then and life was good—revenues surged $3.5 billion. But refining margins began to shrink in 2013 and only for increased sales volumes and a $285 million loss on derivatives that depressed net income in 2012, earnings would likely have dipped last year. Recent quarterly results showed gross profit per barrel was down almost $8 to $9.42, for the first six months of this year. —N.S.