CVR Energy to Buy Two Refineries for $4.2 Billion

Marathon Petroleum and MPLX agree to sell refining and midstream assets in Minnesota and North Dakota to CVR Energy.

Updated on Nov. 13, 2026 in Oil and Gas

Isometric editorial illustration of plain storage tanks, process columns, and a pipe rack on a flat ground plane, depicting industrial refining infrastructure. — Marathon Petroleum and MPLX agreed to sell their St Paul Park and Mandan refineries to CVR Energy for $4.2 billion plus inventory value. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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Marathon Petroleum Corporation and MPLX have agreed to sell two refineries and related midstream assets to CVR Energy for a total purchase price of $4.2 billion plus inventory value, subject to purchase price adjustments. The refineries are located in St Paul Park, Minnesota, and Mandan, North Dakota.

Why it matters

The deal transfers two refining operations that generated more than $1.1 billion of EBITDA in the first nine months of 2026 to a new owner. MPLX plans to reinvest the proceeds mainly in the Gulf Coast and to support growth in the Permian and Marcellus basins.

The refineries have combined capacity of 177,000 barrels per calendar day and generated more than $1.1 billion of EBITDA in the first nine months of 2026. The final price will change with purchase price adjustments and inventory value, which have not yet been determined.

The players

Marathon Petroleum Corporation

Marathon Petroleum is a major American refiner and marketer of petroleum products that is selling the refining assets in this deal.

MPLX

MPLX is a publicly traded midstream energy partnership affiliated with Marathon Petroleum that is selling its pipeline and terminal assets in this deal and plans to reinvest in the Gulf Coast and growth basins.

CVR Energy

CVR Energy is a diversified holding company with petroleum refining and nitrogen fertilizer operations that is acquiring the two refineries and midstream assets.

The details

Marathon Petroleum Corporation and MPLX entered into a definitive agreement to sell the St Paul Park and Mandan refineries along with MPLX's crude oil pipelines, storage capacity and three terminals. CVR Energy expects the acquired business to keep generating substantial cash flows over at least the next twelve months and to realize meaningful commercial and operational synergies.

First nine months of 2026: refineries generated more than $1.1 billion of EBITDA.
Next twelve months: CVR Energy expects the acquired business to generate substantial cash flows.

Market Landscape

The sale continues a pattern in which integrated oil companies divest individual U.S. refineries to independent refiners while keeping midstream assets. It places CVR Energy among the owners of two mid-continent and northern refineries with combined capacity of 177,000 barrels per calendar day.

For drivers and businesses that buy gasoline and diesel from the St Paul Park and Mandan refineries' regions, the change in owner may affect supply arrangements, though the source does not describe any change in product prices or availability. The transaction is an ownership change rather than a closure or new retail program.

The takeaway

Ownership of two significant U.S. refineries is changing hands, and their combined output of 177,000 barrels per calendar day will now be run by CVR Energy. Readers tracking fuel supply in the upper Midwest and northern Plains can watch for the closing and any announced operating changes.