Pbf Energy Inc 's

The refining business is very competitive. We compete directly with various other refining companies on the East, Gulf and West Coasts and in the Mid-Continent, with integrated oil companies, with foreign refiners that import products into the United States and with producers and marketers in other industries supplying alternative forms of energy and fuels to satisfy the requirements of industrial, commercial and individual consumers. Some of our competitors have expanded the capacity of their refineries and internationally new refineries are coming on line which could also affect our competitive position.

Profitability in the refining industry depends largely on refined product margins, which can fluctuate significantly, as well as crude oil prices and differentials between the prices of different grades of crude oil, operating efficiency and reliability, product mix and costs of product distribution and transportation. Certain of our competitors that have larger and more complex refineries may be able to realize lower per-barrel costs or higher margins per barrel of throughput. Several of our principal competitors are integrated national or international oil companies that are larger and have substantially greater resources. Because of their integrated operations and larger capitalization, these companies may be more flexible in responding to volatile industry or market conditions, such as shortages of feedstocks or intense price fluctuations. Refining margins are frequently impacted by sharp changes in crude oil costs, which may not be immediately reflected in product prices.

The refining industry is highly competitive with respect to feedstock supply. Unlike certain of our competitors that have access to proprietary controlled sources of crude oil production available for use at their own refineries, we obtain all of our crude oil and substantially all other feedstocks from unaffiliated sources. The availability and cost of crude oil and feedstock are affected by global supply and demand. We have no crude oil reserves and are not engaged in the exploration or production of crude oil. We believe, however, that we will be able to obtain adequate crude oil and other feedstocks at generally competitive prices for the foreseeable future.