Western Refining, Inc. (WNR)

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Oil & Gas: A Tough Credit Environment

http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/jul2009/pi20090730_585474.htm?campaign_id=yhoo

While we expect larger, more sophisticated refiners such as Valero, Motiva Enterprises (A), and Flint Hills Resources (A) to weather the current downturn, we feel smaller, less-sophisticated refining companies, such as United Refining (B), Alon USA Energy (ALJ) (B+), and Western Refining (WNR) (B+), will continue to be more vulnerable to weak margins. Lacking the scale, flexibility to process different grades of crude, and overall complexity of their larger peers, they are less likely to have adequate debt service coverage and liquidity in a prolonged period of poor margins