The Unlikely Intersection of America’s Only Nevada Refinery and Sustainable Aviation Fuel

Issued on behalf of Sky Quarry, Inc.

A small-cap operator with a 5,000-bpd refinery just signed a multi-party MOU with two clean-fuel partners — and the move suggests the next chapter of the SAF investment cycle may be more vertically integrated than markets are pricing in

NEW YORK, May 12, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Equity Insider News Commentary — Markets often miss small-cap operators when they make moves that pre-date the consensus narrative. The U.S. sustainable aviation fuel investment cycle has been running for a few years now, and the consensus operators — Calumet’s Montana Renewables, Diamond Green Diesel, Gevo’s Net-Zero 1, Aemetis’s California SAF facility — have been investing billions in capex to position for the long-term opportunity. Most of that capital has flowed to dedicated SAF development platforms with relatively limited downstream refining integration.

Key Takeaways

• On May 7, 2026, Sky Quarry, Inc. (NASDAQ: SKYQ) executed a non-binding multi-party Memorandum of Understanding with Southern Energy Renewables, Inc. (a U.S.-based developer of carbon-negative fuels and large-scale biomass-to-Sustainable Aviation Fuel platforms) and DevvStream Corp. (a technology-driven environmental markets and carbon management company).1
• The MOU establishes a strategic collaboration focused on fuel innovation, refinery integration, and low-carbon fuel development — including opportunities involving recycled hydrocarbons, specialty fuels, SAF, and related fuel applications. The agreement has an initial term of three years.1
• For Sky Quarry, the MOU expands the development pathway of its PR Spring facility in Utah and creates an integration runway for its Foreland Refinery in Nevada — the only operating refinery in the State of Nevada — to potentially evolve “into a next-generation fuel production hub,” in the words of CEO Marcus Laun.1
• The announcement arrives inside a sustainable aviation fuel cycle that has been actively repricing across U.S. markets: Calumet, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLMT) closed a $1.44 billion DOE loan facility in January 2025 for its Montana Renewables MaxSAF expansion (target: ~300 million gallons annual SAF capacity), with construction reported more than 70% complete and on track per Q4 2025 results;2 Darling Ingredients (NYSE: DAR) posted Q1 2026 Diamond Green Diesel EBITDA of $151.2 million on 272.4 million gallons of renewable fuels sold;3 Gevo, Inc. (NASDAQ: GEVO) is advancing its Net-Zero 1 SAF plant in Lake Preston, South Dakota with a $1.46 billion conditional DOE loan guarantee;4 and Aemetis, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMTX) reported Q1 2026 revenue of $54.6 million (up 27% year-over-year) with continued progress on its fully permitted SAF/RD facility in California.5
• For Sky Quarry, the difference is structural: the Company already operates a refinery, holds upstream resource (the ~180 million barrel PR Spring oil sands resource), and now has formal collaboration partners across both the SAF technology and carbon market sides of the value chain.1,6,7
  

Sky Quarry, Inc. (NASDAQ: SKYQ) is taking a different path. On May 7, 2026, the Company executed a non-binding multi-party Memorandum of Understanding with Southern Energy Renewables, Inc. (“Southern”) and DevvStream Corp. (“DevvStream”) focused on fuel innovation, refinery integration, and low-carbon fuel development. The collaboration explicitly includes opportunities involving “recycled hydrocarbons, specialty fuels, SAF, and related fuel applications,” with an initial term of three years and a stated intent to “collaborate on a long-term basis across multiple projects, fuel markets, and geographies.”1

What makes the announcement notable isn’t the headline — multi-party MOUs are common in the energy transition space. What makes it notable is the structural position Sky Quarry is bringing to the partnership: a 5,000-barrel-per-day operating refinery (Foreland Refining, the only operating refinery in the State of Nevada), an approximately 180-million-barrel oil sands resource at the PR Spring facility in Utah’s Uinta Basin, and proprietary ECOSolv waste-to-energy technology designed to recover hydrocarbons from oil-saturated sands, soils, and consumer waste — including asphalt shingles.1,6,7

For Sky Quarry, the MOU isn’t a green-fuel pivot — it’s a layering of clean-fuel optionality on top of an integrated traditional energy platform. CEO Marcus Laun framed the rationale directly in the announcement: “By collaborating with Southern and DevvStream, we are accelerating the optimization of PR Spring while advancing new technology pathways that can transform Foreland into a next-generation fuel production hub. This partnership positions Sky Quarry at the intersection of traditional energy infrastructure and advanced fuel innovation.”1

The Three Partners and the Stated Roles

Sky Quarry brings the operating refinery (Foreland in Nevada), the upstream resource (the PR Spring oil sands position in Utah), and the proprietary ECOSolv recovery technology.1,6,7

Southern Energy Renewables, Inc. is described in the announcement as a U.S.-based developer of carbon-negative fuels and large-scale biomass-to-Sustainable Aviation Fuel platforms. Southern’s role under the MOU includes “advanced development expertise across FEED, pilot validation, and commercialization” and “scalable project frameworks capable of accelerating timelines at PR Spring.” Southern’s Chief Strategy Officer, Nevin Smalls, said in the announcement: “Sky Quarry’s combination of upstream resources and refining infrastructure creates a compelling platform for advanced fuel development. We look forward to exploring opportunities around low-carbon fuels, refining innovation, and scalable commercial applications together.”1

DevvStream Corp. is described as a technology-driven environmental markets and carbon management company. DevvStream’s role under the MOU includes “exposure to environmental attribute markets, carbon programs, and project financing frameworks across low-carbon fuel infrastructure” — meaning the carbon-credit and environmental market monetization side of any SAF or low-carbon fuel volumes that result from the collaboration.1

The MOU specifically contemplates: pilot-scale validation of advanced fuels (including SAF, specialty fuels, and recycled hydrocarbon blends), expansion of Sky Quarry’s product slate beyond traditional heavy oil and asphalt outputs, and acceleration of commercialization timelines through the partners’ combined development roadmap.1

Where the SAF Cycle Is Today

Sky Quarry’s MOU lands inside an active U.S. SAF investment cycle. The major U.S.-listed operators have been moving capital and announcing milestones for several quarters.

Calumet, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLMT) operates Montana Renewables, located in Great Falls, Montana — one of the largest producers of Sustainable Aviation Fuel in North America. In January 2025, Montana Renewables closed a $1.44 billion guaranteed loan facility with the U.S. Department of Energy Loan Programs Office to fund construction and expansion of its renewable fuels facility, with the first $782 million drawdown received in February 2025. The expansion targets approximately 300 million gallons of annual SAF capacity (and 330 million gallons combined SAF and renewable diesel), with approximately half of the 300-million-gallon SAF capability targeted to come online by year-end 2026. Calumet’s MaxSAF 150 expansion was reported to be more than 70% complete and on track for Q2 2026 commissioning, per Q4 2025 results.2

Darling Ingredients, Inc. (NYSE: DAR) delivered Q1 2026 EPS of $0.83 versus $0.59 consensus, with combined adjusted EBITDA of $406.8 million more than doubling from $195.8 million in the prior-year quarter. The Diamond Green Diesel joint venture — Darling’s renewable fuels partnership with Valero Energy — sold 272.4 million gallons of renewable fuels at an average of $1.11 per gallon EBITDA, contributing $151.2 million in EBITDA to Darling’s share. CEO Randall Stuewe described the quarter as “a clear inflection point for Darling Ingredients’ earning power across both our core business and Diamond Green Diesel.”3

Gevo, Inc. (NASDAQ: GEVO) is developing its Net-Zero 1 (NZ1) SAF plant in Lake Preston, South Dakota, designed to produce approximately 60 million gallons of SAF per year using 100% U.S.-sourced feedstocks. Gevo holds a $1.46 billion conditional commitment from the U.S. Department of Energy Loan Programs Office (extended to April 2026 per recent disclosures), and the broader Gevo SAF project pipeline includes additional projects with combined capacity targeted at 325 million gallons.4

Aemetis, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMTX) reported Q1 2026 revenue of $54.6 million (up 27% year-over-year), driven by California Ethanol, Dairy Renewable Natural Gas, and India Biodiesel segments. The Company recognized $4.0 million of Section 45Z Production Tax Credits in Q1 2026, with $1.4 million from Dairy RNG and $2.6 million from California Ethanol. CEO Eric McAfee described the SAF/Renewable Diesel facility as “fully permitted and ‘the only remaining part’ before proceeding is the finalization of financing, with further clarity expected from the Department of Energy’s updated 45Z GREET model.”5

SAF & Renewable Fuels Comparison

Operator	Listing	SAF/RD Asset	Status
Calumet (Montana Renewables)	NASDAQ: CLMT	Great Falls, MT	$1.44B DOE loan; targeting ~300M gal SAF
Darling Ingredients (DGD JV)	NYSE: DAR	Multiple US sites	272.4M gal sold Q1 2026; $151.2M EBITDA
Gevo	NASDAQ: GEVO	Lake Preston, SD	NZ1 ~60M gal SAF; $1.46B conditional DOE loan
Aemetis	NASDAQ: AMTX	Riverbank, CA	SAF/RD facility fully permitted
Sky Quarry	NASDAQ: SKYQ	PR Spring, UT (via May 7 MOU)	Integrated refinery + RFP-stage

This is, again, a comparison of business model and strategic positioning — not a comparison of market capitalization or developmental scale. Sky Quarry’s market cap, capital base, and SAF-specific commercialization stage are materially different from the comparables above. What’s distinctive is the structural position: an operating refinery (Foreland), an upstream resource (PR Spring), and a now-formalized collaboration with Southern and DevvStream that, if it advances beyond the MOU stage, could give Sky Quarry direct integration between feedstock recovery, refining infrastructure, and low-carbon fuel commercialization.

Why the Integration Matters

The dedicated SAF developers in the comparison above — Calumet’s Montana Renewables, Gevo’s NZ1, Aemetis’s California facility, and the Diamond Green Diesel joint venture — are pure-play renewable fuels operators or near pure-play. They source feedstocks (used cooking oil, animal fat, agricultural byproducts), process them into SAF and renewable diesel, and sell into airline and trucking customers. Their economics depend heavily on feedstock price stability, federal tax credit structure (Section 45Z, RVO obligations), and offtake demand.

Sky Quarry’s path under the MOU is structurally different. The Foreland refinery already operates as a hydrocarbon processing facility producing diesel, vacuum gas oil, naphtha, and liquid paving asphalt for Western U.S. markets. The PR Spring facility already has approximately $60 million in prior infrastructure investment and an estimated production capacity of approximately 1.5 million tons per year of feedstock processing.6 The proprietary ECOSolv technology already recovers up to 95% of waste asphalt shingle material — equivalent to roughly 22 million barrels of oil per year of recoverable resource if operationalized at the full scale of U.S. shingle waste.7

What the Southern + DevvStream MOU adds is the technical pathway and the carbon market monetization layer. Southern brings the FEED, pilot validation, and SAF-platform expertise. DevvStream brings the environmental market structure to monetize carbon attributes from any low-carbon fuel volumes that emerge. Sky Quarry brings the existing operating infrastructure and the upstream feedstock position.

If the collaboration advances beyond the MOU stage, the resulting platform would be unusual: a small-cap operator with an existing refinery, an existing oil sands resource, an existing waste recovery technology, an SAF technology partner, and a carbon market partner — all integrated around a single Western U.S. footprint. The structural value proposition is different from the dedicated SAF developer model.

The Federal Backdrop

Sky Quarry’s MOU also lands inside a meaningfully changed federal energy policy environment. On April 20, 2026, the White House issued Presidential Determinations under Section 303 of the Defense Production Act of 1950, directing federal authorities to support and accelerate the development, manufacturing, and deployment of large-scale energy infrastructure — including domestic petroleum refining capacity — as essential to national defense and energy reliability.8

Sky Quarry has positioned itself directly within that framework. The Company’s April 23, 2026 press release described the Foreland refinery as a “scarce, fully permitted and recently upgraded asset” in a constrained Western U.S. fuel market.9 Combined with the Defense Production Act framework on the conventional refining side and the Section 45Z Production Tax Credit framework on the SAF side, the policy backdrop for an integrated operator may be more supportive in 2026 than it has been in recent memory.

The Optionality the Market Is Pricing

For research and additional commentary on Sky Quarry, Inc. (NASDAQ: SKYQ) — including the May 7 multi-party MOU, the PR Spring 180-million-barrel oil sands RFP, the 7 MW power capacity RFP, and the ongoing Foreland refinery operating updates — click here to access the full investor briefing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is the Sky Quarry / Southern / DevvStream MOU? On May 7, 2026, Sky Quarry, Inc. executed a non-binding multi-party Memorandum of Understanding with Southern Energy Renewables, Inc. and DevvStream Corp. The MOU focuses on fuel innovation, refinery integration, and low-carbon fuel development — including SAF, specialty fuels, and recycled hydrocarbons — with an initial term of three years. The MOU is non-binding except for certain customary provisions.1

Q: Who are Southern Energy Renewables and DevvStream? Southern Energy Renewables, Inc. is described in Sky Quarry’s announcement as a U.S.-based developer of carbon-negative fuels and large-scale biomass-to-SAF platforms. DevvStream Corp. is a technology-driven environmental markets and carbon management company. Both partners are independent of Sky Quarry.1

Q: What is Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)? Sustainable Aviation Fuel is a renewable, low-carbon jet fuel alternative meeting aviation standards and designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from air transport. SAF can be produced from feedstocks including biomass, used cooking oil, agricultural residues, and recycled hydrocarbons.

Q: What is ECOSolv? ECOSolv is Sky Quarry’s proprietary closed-loop technology designed to recover hydrocarbons from oil-saturated sands, soils, and consumer waste — including waste asphalt shingles. The process is described in Sky Quarry corporate disclosures as recovering up to 95% of material and recycling up to 99% of solvent.7

Q: What is Sky Quarry’s PR Spring facility? PR Spring is Sky Quarry’s facility in the Uinta Basin of Utah, near Vernal. It includes approximately 5,900 acres of permitted land, a constructed processing facility representing approximately $60 million in prior investments, and an estimated approximately 180-million-barrel oil sands resource for which Sky Quarry has issued an RFP to seek development partners.6

Numbered Citations

1. Sky Quarry Inc., “Sky Quarry Enters Strategic Multi-Party MOU to Advance Next-Generation Fuel Technologies,” ACCESS Newswire, May 7, 2026.
2. Calumet, Inc., “Montana Renewables Announces Closing of $1.44 Billion DOE Loan Facility for Renewable Fuels and Biomass Energy Facility,” PR Newswire, January 10, 2025; “Montana Renewables Receives First Drawdown from $1.44 Billion DOE Loan Facility,” PR Newswire, February 18, 2025; Calumet Q4 2025 results, February 27, 2026.
3. Darling Ingredients Inc., “Darling Ingredients Inc. Reports First Quarter 2026 Results,” Business Wire, April 30, 2026; Q1 2026 earnings call transcript.
4. Gevo, Inc., “Gevo Secures Conditional Commitment from U.S. Department of Energy Loan Programs Office for its Net-Zero 1 Sustainable Aviation Fuel Plant in South Dakota,” October 2024; Gevo Q1 2026 earnings (May 7, 2026).
5. Aemetis, Inc., “Aemetis Reports First Quarter 2026 Financial Results,” May 7, 2026; Q1 2026 earnings call transcript.
6. Sky Quarry Inc., “Sky Quarry’s 180-Million-Barrel Oil Sands Asset Subject to RFP for Accelerated Commercialization,” ACCESS Newswire, May 4, 2026.
7. Sky Quarry Inc., corporate disclosures (skyquarry.com/our-technology/).
8. The White House, “Presidential Determination Pursuant to Section 303 of the Defense Production Act of 1950, as Amended, on Domestic Petroleum Production, Refining, and Logistics Capacity,” April 2026.
9. Sky Quarry Inc., “Sky Quarry Positioned to Benefit as Trump Administration Prioritizes Domestic Refining Capacity,” ACCESS Newswire, April 23, 2026.
   

Article Source: Equity Insider

DISCLAIMER / DISCLOSURE:

Equity-Insider.com (“EI”) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Market IQ Media Group, Inc. (“MIQ”). This communication is for digital media distribution purposes only. MIQ has been paid a fee by Creative Digital Media Group (“CDMG”) of three thousand five hundred USD for digital media distribution and original content production related to Sky Quarry, Inc. on behalf of Sky Quarry, Inc. The owner/operator of MIQ does not currently own any shares of Sky Quarry, Inc. but reserves the right to buy and sell, and will buy and sell shares of Sky Quarry, Inc. at any time without any further notice commencing immediately and ongoing. The communications between MIQ and Sky Quarry, Inc. and the related compensation arrangements between MIQ, CDMG and Sky Quarry, Inc. have been reviewed and approved on behalf of Sky Quarry, Inc. by CDMG.

This article was reviewed and approved on behalf of Sky Quarry, Inc. by CDMG, and also by Sky Quarry Inc. directly.

Owners, employees, and agents of EI and MIQ are not registered broker-dealers or investment advisors. The information contained in this communication is not, and should not be construed as, investment advice, an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security. The information contained in this communication is current at the date of publication and is provided in good faith from sources believed to be reliable, but its accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed. Readers should conduct their own due diligence and consult with a registered broker-dealer or financial advisor before making any investment decision.

This communication contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable U.S. securities legislation. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks include, without limitation: market and commodity price volatility; legal and regulatory risks; risks of being a small-capitalization company; the volatility of microcap and small-cap securities; risks associated with U.S. listing requirements; reliance on a single operating refinery; risks associated with development-stage assets; risks associated with non-binding MOUs (which do not constitute definitive agreements and may not result in any specific commercial transaction); risks associated with sustainable aviation fuel commercialization; risks associated with U.S. federal renewable fuel policy and Section 45Z tax credit structure; geopolitical risks; and risks of changes in U.S. federal and state energy policy. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this communication.

The May 7, 2026 multi-party MOU between Sky Quarry, Inc., Southern Energy Renewables, Inc., and DevvStream Corp. is non-binding except for certain customary provisions. Independent investors should not interpret the MOU as a definitive agreement, joint venture, financing commitment, or guarantee of any specific commercial outcome. The execution of the MOU does not create any contractual obligation among the parties to consummate any transaction or to advance any particular project. Any commercial transaction resulting from the collaboration would require separate definitive agreements.

Comparable companies referenced in this article (Calumet, Inc.; Darling Ingredients Inc.; Gevo, Inc.; and Aemetis, Inc.) are presented for context purposes only. Sky Quarry, Inc. is materially different from each of these comparables in terms of market capitalization, SAF/renewable fuels operating scale, and developmental stage. Past performance of any comparable does not guarantee future performance of Sky Quarry, Inc.

By reading this communication, the reader acknowledges that they have read and understand this disclaimer and the risks identified herein.

Contact: editor@equity-insider.com | Sky Quarry, Inc. (NASDAQ: SKYQ) | usanewsgroup.com/skyq-landing

Legal Disclaimer:

EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.