The direction was already partly telegraphed, but the reset is now formal. Earlier disclosures had pointed toward reaching roughly 200 million gallons of SAF capacity with a much smaller capital footprint; this filing converts that concept into an amended DOE loan agreement and a defined six-project buildout. The new information is the exact funding structure, scope, and reduced capital commitment.
| Metric | Original plan | Amended plan |
|---|---|---|
| Remaining expansion capital | $1.2 billion (Press release — expansion overview) | $137 million (Press release — expansion overview) |
| Additional DOE funding | Up to $658 million (Loan amendment summary) | Final draw of $34 million (Loan amendment summary) |
| Target SAF production | Original expected benefit implied at roughly 300 million gallons | Approximately 200 million gallons annually by year-end 2028 (Press release — expansion overview) |
| Third-party equity | Required under original structure | None required (Financing structure) |
| Base Cash Equity Reserve threshold | $80.0 million (Loan amendment summary) | $20.0 million (Loan amendment summary) |
The capital efficiency is the clear improvement versus the old assumption. Remaining project capital falls to $137 million from the $1.2 billion megaproject, while the company says the revised design captures approximately 70% of the original expected benefit. That sharply reduces construction exposure, limits the need for outside equity, and avoids the dilution risk embedded in the former structure.
The tradeoff is that this is no longer the same-scale growth project. The filing replaces a large new-build expansion with repurposed equipment and smaller scopes of work, targeting approximately 200 million gallons of annual SAF and 17,000 barrels per day of total product sales by year-end 2028. 〔0〕 That means lower capital at risk, but also less ultimate capacity and benefit than the original megaproject implied.
Execution now matters more than financing. MRL is currently running at a 60-million-gallon SAF annualized rate, with targets above 80 million by year-end 2026, above 120 million by spring 2027, and approximately 200 million by year-end 2028. 〔1〕 The plan depends on relocating and tying in a hydrotreater, hydrogen plant, and naphtha splitter, with the key turnaround scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2026. 〔2〕
Net read: financially cleaner, strategically smaller, and still execution-dependent. Against the standing expectation of the original $1.2 billion Phase 2 architecture, the amendment is better on capital intensity, dilution, and construction risk. Against the original growth ambition, it is a reduction in scope. With no fresh earnings or operating results to benchmark, this is best classified as a mixed capital reset rather than a clean beat or miss.
Read the original 8-K on SEC EDGAR ↗