CVR Energy Inc.

Welcome to the CBR Energy second quarter 2024 conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A brief question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Richard Roberts, Vice President of FP&A and Investor Relations. Thank you, sir. You may begin.

Thank you, Christine. Good afternoon, everyone. We very much appreciate you joining us this afternoon for our CBR Energy Second Quarter 2024 Earnings Call. With me today are Dave Lamp, our Chief Executive Officer, Dane Newman, our Chief Financial Officer, and other members of management. Prior to discussing our 2024 Second Quarter results, let me remind you that this conference call may contain forward-looking statements as that term is defined under federal securities laws. For this purpose, any statements made during this call that are not statements of historical facts may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. You are cautioned that these statements may be affected by important factors set forth in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and in our latest earnings release. As a result, actual operations and results may differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except to the extent required by law. This call also includes various non-GAAP financial measures. The disclosures related to such non-GAAP measures, including reconciliation to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures, are included in our 2024 second quarter earnings release that we filed with the SEC in Form 10Q for the period and will be discussed during the call. With that said, I'll turn the call over to Dave.

Thank you, Richard. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining our earnings call. Yesterday, we reported second quarter consolidated net income $38 million and earnings per share of $0.21. EBITDA was $103 million. Our results for the quarter reflect the weakness in the refining product tracks in the MidCon, in addition to the downtime and increased expenses associated with the fire at Wittywood. We estimate total pre-tax impact of our second quarter results from the fire was approximately $50 million, which does not include the impact of any of insurance recoveries that may be achieved in the future. We are pleased to announce that the Board of Directors has authorized a second quarter dividend of 50 cents per share, which will be paid on August 19th to shareholders of record at the close of market on August 12th. Our trailing annualized dividend yield, based on yesterday's close price, is approximately 7%, the highest among independent refiners. In our petroleum segment, combined throughput, total throughput for the second quarter of 2024 was approximately 186,000 barrels per day, and light product yield was 99% on crude oil processed. Following the fire at Winningwood in late April, we resumed operations of the number one crude unit within two weeks of the incident, and the number two crude unit began operating in mid-June. Winningwood is currently operating at normal rates. Benchmark cracks softened during the second quarter with the Group 3, 2-1-1 averaging $18.83 per barrel compared to $32.03 per barrel for the second quarter of 2023. Average RIN prices for the second quarter of 2024 also declined from the prior year period and ended the quarter at approximately 69 cents on an RVO weighted basis. Regarding the RFS, we were thrilled with last week's order from the D.C. Circuit vacating EPA's improper denial of dozens of petitions of other refiners seeking small refinery exemptions. While we await the text of this opinion, the outcome mirrors the Fifth Circuit's damning opinion last year vacating EPA's denial of small refinery exemptions for Winnie Wood and other refiners from 2017 to 2021. EPA has still not acted on those petitions despite eight months since the remand. And while we intend to oppose the writ of cert they filed for the Supreme Court, we think the favorable DC Circuit action should work in our favor. As previously reported, we have a pending suit against EPA and the Fifth Circuit for the denial of our 2022 petition. and earlier this month we filed suit for their illegal failure to rule on our 2023 petition. We submitted our 2024 petition last week, and the clock is ticking for EPA to act. We will continue to fight for small refinery exemptions, for the small refinery exemptions, what it deserves, and also compel EPA to fix what we believe is is EPA's clear violation of RFS by allowing non-obligated parties to trade in and manipulate the market. The Supreme Court's recent overturn of the Chevron Doctrine may represent an incremental positive for our efforts, though the ultimate impact remains to be seen. For the second quarter of 2024, we processed approximately 12 million gallons of vegetable fuel oil through through the pre-treater and the renewable diesel unit at Winniewood, with throughput in the quarter indirectly impacted by the fire in April. The hobo spread weakened slightly from the first quarter of 2024 with lower diesel prices, and the D4 RENs remained depressed as a result of EPA's continued mismanagement of the RFS program. As a reminder, our renewable diesel business is currently reported within our corporate and other segment. In the fertilizer segment, both facilities ran well for the quarter with a combined ammonia utilization rate of 102%. Nitrogen fertilizer prices were relatively consistent with first quarter pricing, and we saw strong demand for nitrogen for the spring planting season. Now let me turn the call over to Dane to discuss our financial highlights.