HF Sinclair Seeks Westward Growth with Less Capital Spending

Written by Will Ploch, Assistant Editor-in-Chief for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)

---

Summary

With refineries closing on the West Coast, HF Sinclair sees a significant opportunity in expanding its oil-refining services westward as it puts its heaviest maintenance-related projects in the rearview mirror.

---

More Acquisitions, Less Maintenance in 2026

HF Sinclair Corporation (Dallas, Texas), which owns nine petroleum refineries across the U.S., is trimming its capital-spending plans for 2026 after management reported the company would face fewer maintenance costs, when compared with the previous two years. The company also is expanding its role in the Rocky Mountain and West Coast markets, where refinery closures are impacting the market. Industrial Info is tracking more than $1.5 billion worth of active and proposed projects from HF Sinclair, the bulk of which are at the Casper and Sinclair refineries in Wyoming.

Executives at HF Sinclair said Tuesday that the company's full-year 2026 capital-spending (capex) is expected to total $775 million, which is $100 million below its estimated capex for 2025.

"We believe that we have now passed our catch-up maintenance period in our overall turnaround process," said Timothy Go, the chief executive officer of HF Sinclair, in a quarterly earnings-related conference call. "We think we peaked in 2024, [and] 2025 from a refining standpoint is actually lower on overall capex. But it's kind of masked a little bit, because we had a larger lubes turnaround earlier this year. So we do think, looking forward into 2026, that we'll see that substantial reduction in overall capex."

Earlier this week, HF Sinclair announced a subsidiary had agreed to acquire Industrial Oils Unlimited LLC (Tulsa, Oklahoma), an industrial lubricant and specialty fluid producer. HF Sinclair said in a press release that the $38 million purchase would "strengthen HF Sinclair's position as an innovative leader in lubricants and specialty fluids" and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2026.

At its refineries, HF Sinclair's near-term capex projects consist largely of revamps and upgrades. Among its facilities preparing for work in the coming months is its 83,000-barrel-per-day (BBL/d) refinery in Sinclair, Wyoming, where it will perform upgrades to railcar loading racks for oil and renewable diesel. Both projects are set to wrap up in the spring of 2026.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Petroleum Refining Plant and Project databases can learn more about the Wyoming projects--including capacities, investment values and necessary equipment--from a plant profile and detailed reports on the oil and renewable diesel projects.

By the Numbers

• $38 million: Price tag for HF Sinclair's acquisition of Industrial Oils Unlimited
• $775 million: HF Sinclair's expected companywide capex for 2026
• $225 million: HF Sinclair's expected 2026 capex for its seven refineries

Go West, Young Refiner

The company expects capex at its seven refineries, which have a combined oil-processing capacity of roughly 684,000 BBL/d, to total $225 million in 2026, compared with its estimated $240 million total for 2025. This includes scheduled maintenance-related projects, which subscribers can learn more about from a detailed list of project reports.

HF Sinclair recently announced it is evaluating a proposed, multi-phased expansion of its role across PADD 4 and PADD 5, which comprise the Rocky Mountain and West Coast markets, respectively. The company said the move is "designed to address the increasing supply and demand imbalances in key western markets, particularly Nevada and multiple markets in California, resulting from announced refinery closures on the West Coast."

In addition to its refinery in Sinclair, Wyoming, the company is weighing a series of proposed revamps at its refinery in Woods Cross, Utah, just north of Salt Lake City, which could kick off as early as next year. These include a 10,000-BBL/d diesel hydrotreater (DHT), a series of cooling towers, and a multi-boiler steam system. Woods Cross has an oil-processing capacity of 45,000 BBL/d.

Subscribers can learn more about these projects in a plant profile and detailed reports on the DHT, cooling towers and steam system.

The Sinclair, Wyoming, and Woods Cross refineries are linked by the Pioneer Pipeline, jointly owned with Phillips 66 (Houston, Texas). The initial phase of HF Sinclair's expansion across PADD 4 and PADD 5 involves an expansion of Pioneer's capacity. It will be followed by a debottlenecking of HF Sinclair's wholly owned UNEV Pipeline from Salt Lake City, Utah, to Las Vegas, Nevada. Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Pipeline Database can read detailed reports on the Pioneer and UNEV systems.

"Subject to Board and regulatory approvals, the proposed, multi-phased expansion projects under review are projected to enable incremental supply of up to 150,000 BBL/d of product into various West Coast markets," Go said in the earnings call in early November. "The first phase would increase capacity by a projected 35,000 BBL/d to move supply from our Rockies production into Nevada and is targeted to be online in 2028."

Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Project and Plant databases can click here for a full list of detailed reports for projects mentioned in this article, and click here for a full list of related plant profiles.

Subscribers can click here for a full list of reports for active and proposed projects from HF Sinclair.

Key Takeaways

• HF Sinclair expects its overall capex in 2026 to be lower than the previous two years, due to reduced maintenance needs.
• The company is weighing an expansion of its role across PADD 4 and PADD 5, which are areas affected by refinery closures.
• Pipeline systems across Wyoming, Utah and Nevada are the cornerstone of this plan.

---

About Industrial Info Resources
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).