v3.26.1
Commitments and Contingencies
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2026
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies
(12) Commitments and Contingencies
In the ordinary course of business, the Company may become party to lawsuits, administrative proceedings, and governmental investigations, including environmental, regulatory, and other matters. The outcome of these matters cannot always be predicted accurately, but the Company accrues liabilities for these matters if the Company has determined that it is probable a loss has been incurred and the loss can be reasonably estimated. While there have been no material changes in the Company’s commitments and contingencies from those disclosed in the 2025 Form 10-K and Q1 2026 Form 10-Q, recent developments are discussed below.
45Q Transaction
Under the agreements entered into in connection with the 45Q Transaction, the Company’s indirect subsidiary, Coffeyville Resources Nitrogen Fertilizer, LLC (“CRNF”), is obligated to meet certain minimum quantities of carbon oxide supply each year during the term of the agreement and is subject to fees of up to $15 million per year (reduced pro rata for partial years) to the unaffiliated third-party investors, subject to an overall $45 million cap, if these minimum quantities are not delivered. CVR Partners issued a guarantee to the unaffiliated third-party investors and certain of their affiliates involved in the 45Q Transaction of the payment and performance obligations of CRNF and CVR-CapturePoint Parent, LLC (“CVRP JV”), which include the aforementioned fees. This guarantee has no impacts on the accounting records of CVR Partners unless the parties fail to comply with the terms of the 45Q Transaction contracts.
Renewable Fuel Standard
Coffeyville Resources Refining & Marketing, LLC (“CRRM”) and Wynnewood Refining Company, LLC (“WRC”, and together with CRRM, the “obligated-party subsidiaries”) are subject to the RFS implemented by the EPA, which, absent any exemption or waiver, requires obligated parties to blend a certain amount of renewable fuels, called a Renewable Volume Obligation (“RVO”), into their transportation fuels or purchase RINs, in lieu of blending. The Petroleum Segment’s obligated-party subsidiaries are not able to blend the majority of their transportation fuels with renewable fuels and, unless their RFS
obligations are waived or exempted, whether through the grant of small refinery exemptions (“SREs”) or otherwise, must either purchase RINs from third parties or obtain waiver credits for cellulosic biofuels in order to comply with the RFS.
On April 1, 2026, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) issued a final rule, effective on June 15, 2026, that (a) establishes applicable blending volumes and percentage standards under the RFS for 2026 and 2027 for cellulosic biofuel, biomass-based diesel, advanced biofuel, and total renewable fuel, reflecting the highest renewable fuel volume in the program’s history, including for biomass-based diesel and advanced biofuel; (b) partially waives the 2025 cellulosic biofuel volume requirement and revises the associated percentage standard due to a shortfall in cellulosic biofuel production; and (c) promulgates several regulatory changes to the RFS program, including the removal of renewable electricity as a qualifying renewable fuel under the RFS program and makes minor revisions to the biogas provisions of the RFS program (the “2026/2027 RFS Final Rule”). In the 2026/2027 RFS Final Rule, the EPA confirmed its intention to add to annual blending obligations volumes that account for 70% of volumes actually exempted by the EPA for 2023 and 2024 compliance years and those projected to be exempted by the EPA for the 2025 compliance year, estimated by the EPA to total 2.89 billion RINs.
The costs for our obligated-party subsidiaries to comply with the RFS obligation through purchasing of RINs not otherwise reduced by blending of ethanol, biodiesel, or renewable diesel are included within Cost of materials and other in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations. At each reporting period, to the extent RINs purchased and generated through blending are less than the RFS obligation (excluding the impact of exemptions or waivers to which the Company may be entitled), the remaining position is valued using RIN market prices at period end for each specific or closest vintage year.
As of June 30, 2026 and December 31, 2025, the Company’s obligated-party subsidiaries’ RFS positions were approximately $408 million and $72 million, respectively, and are recorded in Other current liabilities in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets.
Litigation
Call Option Coverage Cases – The appeal filed by the Company and certain of its affiliates (the “Call Defendants”) of the summary judgment granted in Texas state court (the “Texas Suit”) in favor of certain of the Company’s primary and excess insurers (the “Insurers”) relating to the August 2022 settlement (the “Settlement”) of the consolidated lawsuits filed by purported former unitholders of CVR Refining, LP on behalf of themselves and an alleged class of similarly situated unitholders relating to the Company’s exercise of the call option under the CVR Refining, LP Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership remains pending before an appellate court in Texas. In May 2026 in the action filed by the Call Defendants in Delaware against the Insurers seeking recovery of all amounts paid in connection with the Settlement (the “Delaware Suit”), the court lifted the previously issued stay for 60 days in advance of a hearing on the Call Defendants’ motion to amend its complaint and other motions. While both cases remain pending, the Company does not expect the outcome of these lawsuits to have a material adverse impact on the Company’s financial position, results of operations, or cash flows.
Renewable Fuel Standard – In July 2026, WRC and multiple other parties filed opening briefs with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (the “D.C. Circuit”) in the consolidated actions challenging the EPA’s August 2025 decision on multiple pending petitions for SREs including but not limited to those filed by WRC (the “August 2025 SRE Decisions”). In June 2026, CRRM and WRC, together with numerous other refiners, biofuels groups and others, filed petitions for review of the 2026/2027 RFS Final Rule in the D.C. Circuit, which petitions remain pending.
The EPA has failed to rule on WRC’s SRE petition for the 2025 compliance period filed by WRC in July 2025, despite the EPA’s legal obligation to rule on such petition within ninety days. WRC continues to evaluate any actions WRC may take relating to its 2025 SRE petition should the EPA fail to rule, or adversely rule, on WRC’s 2025 SRE petition.
As each of these matters are in their early stages, the Company cannot yet determine the impact of these matters on WRC’s past, current, and future obligations under the RFS or the Company’s financial position, results of operations, or cash flows, which could be material.
Guaranty Dispute – All deadlines in the 2024 and 2025 actions filed by Wynnewood Energy Company, LLC (“WEC”) in the Superior Court of the State of Delaware disputing the validity of an alleged 1993 guaranty (the “Guaranty Dispute”) asserted by Exxon Mobil Corporation (“XOM”) to obligate WRC to defend and indemnify XOM against multiple claims and lawsuits asserted against XOM between 2018 and 2025 arising from alleged contamination from historical oil wells and gas operations in Louisiana have been stayed until September 2026 while the parties continue to engage in mediation activities.
While WEC continues to dispute the validity of the guaranty, if these matters are ultimately concluded in a manner adverse to the Company, they could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial position, results of operations, or cash flows.
CRNF Ammonia Release - Multiple lawsuits filed against CVR Energy, CVR Partners and certain of their subsidiaries (collectively, the “Ammonia Defendants”) alleging personal injury and related damages arising from an October 2025 ammonia release at the nitrogen fertilizer facility in Coffeyville, Kansas (the “Coffeyville Fertilizer Facility”), have been consolidated in Texas state court in Fort Bend County, and discovery is ongoing. The Ammonia Defendants asserted counterclaims in the related declaratory judgment action filed in Kansas state court, in which an insurer seeks a determination that it has no duty to defend or indemnify the Ammonia Defendants in connection with certain of the underlying claims. As these matters are in their early stages, the Company cannot yet determine whether they will have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial position, results of operations, or cash flows.
Kansas Environmental Claims - In July 2026, the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas dismissed the medical monitoring claim asserted against CVR Energy, CVR Partners and certain of their affiliates (collectively, the “Kansas Defendants”) by three residents of Coffeyville, on behalf of themselves and a purported class of similarly situated persons; discovery is ongoing with respect to the remaining claims seeking compensatory and punitive damages arising from alleged emissions from operations at the refinery in Coffeyville, Kansas and the Coffeyville Fertilizer Facility. While this matter is in its early stages, if ultimately concluded in a manner adverse to the Kansas Defendants, it could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial position, results of operations, or cash flows.