180 Million Barrels Of Oil Sands, A 5,000 BPD Permitted Nevada Refinery, And A New Multi-Party SAF Collaboration Just Stacked Onto The U.S. Domestic Refining Capacity Conversation
Issued on behalf of Sky Quarry Inc.
As Western U.S. refining capacity continues to consolidate, Brent crude trades in the ~$95.00 range, and the Trump administration prioritizes domestic refining under Presidential Determinations, one integrated energy and resource recovery company has positioned itself directly at the intersection of feedstock, infrastructure, and policy.
USA News Group News Commentary
WOODS CROSS, Utah, May 29, 2026 /CNW/ -- U.S. domestic refining capacity has entered a structurally tight phase. West Coast refining capacity has continued to shrink, the Q1 2026 earnings cycle for major U.S. refiners confirmed disciplined demand and tight margin discipline across the complex, and the Trump administration's Presidential Determinations on domestic refining capacity under the Defense Production Act have placed strategic priority on U.S.-based refining infrastructure. Inside that landscape, Sky Quarry, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYQ), Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO), HF Sinclair Corporation (NYSE:DINO), Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PARR), and Delek US Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:DK) collectively span the spectrum from emerging vertically integrated upstream-downstream operator to large-scale U.S. refining-and-marketing major.
Sky Quarry, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYQ), an integrated energy and resource recovery company, has used the first half of 2026 to sequence a series of strategic announcements positioning the Company directly at the intersection of feedstock availability, U.S. refining capacity, and emerging low-carbon fuel pathways. On May 7, 2026, Sky Quarry executed a non-binding multi-party Memorandum of Understanding with Southern Energy Renewables, Inc. (a U.S.-based developer of carbon-negative fuels and large-scale biomass-to-Sustainable Aviation Fuel platforms) and DevvStream Corp. (a technology-driven environmental markets and carbon management company). The MOU has an initial three-year term and establishes a strategic collaboration focused on fuel innovation, refinery integration, and low-carbon fuel development.
The collaboration targets pilot-scale validation of SAF, specialty fuels, and recycled-hydrocarbon blends at Sky Quarry's PR Spring oil sands asset in Utah — a resource the Company has disclosed at approximately 180 million barrels of oil — alongside technology upgrades at the Foreland Refinery in Nevada. The integrated pathway provides Sky Quarry access to carbon management, environmental attributes, and commercialization pathways across both the conventional refining and SAF sides of the U.S. fuel supply environment. Section 45Z Production Tax Credit framework on the SAF side and Defense Production Act policy on the conventional side together describe the most supportive operating environment U.S. integrated refining operators have seen in recent memory.
Earlier in the quarter, on April 29, 2026 (with an expanded version released on May 4, 2026), Sky Quarry announced a Request for Proposals (RFP) to engage partners seeking to accelerate development and commercialization of the approximately 180 million barrels of oil at the PR Spring asset. The RFP includes potential integration of PR Spring heavy oil production directly into the Foreland Refinery — creating a vertically integrated upstream-to-downstream pathway from Utah feedstock to Western U.S. finished products. The Company has also issued a separate RFP to monetize 7 megawatts of installed surplus turbine generation at the same site, providing additional commercial flexibility around the underlying infrastructure base.
The Foreland Refinery operates at 5,000 barrels per day of permitted capacity — a scarce, fully permitted, and recently upgraded asset inside a constrained Western U.S. fuel market. On January 27, 2026, Sky Quarry announced the completion of high-impact system upgrades at Foreland, unlocking strategic value across the refinery's 5,000 BPD permitted capacity. The Company's broader strategic growth plan, announced in 2025, targets up to 800,000 barrels of annual sustained production at Foreland — providing the operational scale-up roadmap for the integrated upstream-and-downstream model the Company is now executing against.
Sky Quarry's positioning within the U.S. domestic refining capacity — reinforced by the April 23, 2026 press release citing the Trump administration's Presidential Determinations on domestic refining capacity under the Defense Production Act — places the Company at the intersection of the energy security policy framework now being deployed at the federal level. The combination of permitted refinery infrastructure, 180 million barrels of in-place feedstock, multi-party SAF collaboration, and Defense Production Act policy alignment provides the structural framework within which Sky Quarry's integrated platform is being evaluated. For more company information, visit USA News Group.
In other industry developments and happenings in the market include:
Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) — among the largest independent petroleum refiners and marketers in the world — has continued to leverage tight U.S. refining margin economics through Q1 2026. The Company's portfolio of refineries across the U.S. Gulf Coast, mid-continent, West Coast, and Atlantic Coast provides the scale reference for what large-cap U.S. refining-and-marketing operations look like inside the current Western fuel supply environment. Recent quarterly results continued to reflect disciplined refining margin capture across the cycle.
Valero's continued scale advantage and refining margin discipline provides the institutional reference for U.S. refining sector performance — and reinforces the structural premium attaching to permitted refining capacity inside the current Defense Production Act prioritization framework. Across the U.S. refining complex, the procurement environment continues to favor operators with established, permitted, and operationally upgraded refining infrastructure.
HF Sinclair Corporation (NYSE:DINO) — formed via the 2022 merger of HollyFrontier and Sinclair — has continued to operate one of the larger integrated U.S. refining and marketing platforms through Q1 2026. The Company's refineries across the mid-continent and Rocky Mountain regions, combined with the Sinclair-branded retail network, provide diversified margin capture across the U.S. fuel supply chain.
HF Sinclair's integrated refining-and-marketing model and continued operational platform discipline through 2026 reinforces the structural relevance of regional refining infrastructure inside the broader U.S. fuel supply environment. The Company's continued investment in renewable diesel and lower-carbon fuel pathways provides additional architectural reference for the integrated conventional-and-low-carbon strategy that mid-sized U.S. refiners are increasingly deploying.
Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PARR) operates refining assets in Hawaii, Wyoming, Montana, and Washington — making it one of the more geographically diversified mid-tier U.S. independent refiners. Par Pacific's positioning at the intersection of constrained regional markets (particularly Hawaii and the Pacific Northwest) has reinforced the strategic relevance of its refining footprint inside the tightening Western U.S. fuel supply environment through 2026.
Par Pacific's regional refining concentration — particularly in Western and Pacific markets — provides direct reference for the structural value of permitted Western refining infrastructure. The Company's operating discipline and continued reinvestment in refining capacity reinforces the broader procurement environment thesis: Western U.S. refining capacity is structurally constrained, and operators with permitted, operationally upgraded assets are commanding strategic value.
Delek US Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:DK) operates refining assets in the U.S. Gulf Coast and mid-continent regions, alongside a retail and logistics platform. The Company's Q1 2026 earnings cycle reinforced the broader U.S. refining sector observation: tight global capacity, disciplined demand, and structurally supported refining margins are providing the operating environment within which mid-sized U.S. independent refiners are operating.
Delek's continued operational platform and disciplined capital allocation through 2026 provides the additional reference for U.S. independent refining performance inside the current cycle. Across the broader U.S. independent refining complex, the structural premium attaching to permitted refining capacity — combined with the Defense Production Act prioritization framework — continues to reinforce the institutional engagement around U.S.-based integrated refining-and-feedstock operations of all scales.
Across the comparable set, the message is consistent: U.S. domestic refining capacity is constrained, Western fuel supply is tightening, and federal policy is actively reinforcing the strategic value of permitted refining infrastructure. Sky Quarry's May 7 multi-party MOU with Southern Energy Renewables and DevvStream, the April–May RFP for the 180-million-barrel PR Spring oil sands asset, the January 2026 Foreland refinery upgrades completion, and the April 23 Defense Production Act positioning collectively place the Company at the integrated upstream-and-downstream intersection inside the broader U.S. refining capacity priority. For investors building exposure to the U.S. domestic refining and energy security cycle, SKYQ deserves a closer look.
CONTINUED… Read this and more news for Sky Quarry Inc. at: https://usanewsgroup.com/skyq-landing.
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Article Sources:
[1] https://www.stocktitan.net/news/SKYQ/sky-quarry-enters-strategic-multi-party-mou-to-advance-next-3x4zih3h99i6.html
[2] https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/180-million-barrels-of-utah-oil-sands-resource-under-development-by-sky-quarry-302769254.html
[3] https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/05/12/3293082/0/en/The-Unlikely-Intersection-of-America-s-Only-Nevada-Refinery-and-Sustainable-Aviation-Fuel.html
[4] https://www.valero.com/news
[5] https://hfsinclair.com/news
[6] https://www.parpacific.com/news
[7] https://www.delekus.com/news
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Issued on behalf of Sky Quarry, Inc. by USA News Group / Market IQ Media Group, Inc.
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