Business

Carl Icahn preparing offer to buy oil refiner Delek Holdings

Carl Icahn, who owns a controlling stake in Sugar Land, Texas, refiner CVR Energy, is preparing to wade deeper into the energy patch, The Post has learned.

CVR is preparing to make an offer for Delek US Holdings, a source close to the situation said.

Delek refines oil in Arkansas and Texas and sells some of the oil at its 348 gas stations.

There is also speculation that Icahn, who sits on CVR’s board, is building a personal stake in the Brentwood, Tenn.-based company.

Delek shares were up 5 percent in Thursday afternoon trading, to $15.03 — and have gained 19 percent in the last five trading days.

Over the past year, refiners have come under pressure as they have been hit by narrowing oil spreads plus the rising price of Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) — the paperwork many need to buy from gas retailers and brokers to show they are complying with Environmental Protection Agency regulations.

Indeed, Delek is down nearly 60 percent over the past year, and CVR is down nearly 70 percent.

Besides eyeing up Delek, Icahn might also be preparing to take full ownership of CVR, sources said.

Icahn bought a majority stake in CVR in May 2012 and took the company public in January 2013.

On Aug. 2, Icahn sold 250,000 of his 6 million shares in subsidiary CVR Refining and reduced his stake to just below 70 percent, giving him the right to buy the rest of the subsidiary at no premium.

Since 2005, the EPA has required refiners to add biofuels, mainly ethanol, to 10 percent of their production. But gas retailers would rather buy the gas from refineries unblended and blend in the biofuels themselves.

They then sell the RINS to the refiners. The gas retailers have been greatly increasing the price of RINs, Congress said in a report, and that eats into refineries’ margins.

Big oil companies have their own gas stations and do blending themselves.

An Icahn spokesman said he does not comment on rumor or speculation.