The Rare Winners of Negative Oil Prices! Carl Icahn, Wall Street's 'Wolf of Wall Street,' Times His Bottom-Fishing Perfectly

Because WTI crude oil futures are physically settled—and because U.S. storage capacity is nearly exhausted—investors who failed to close their positions before expiration had no choice but to dump their contracts. This drove the WTI May contract to close at -$37.63 per barrel on Monday—a historic first for negative pricing. Yet not everyone was trapped in this predicament; Carl Icahn was one notable exception. Emergency Position Opening—Buy Now! A legendary investor since the 1980s, the 84-year-old Icahn holds a diversified investment portfolio that enabled him to capitalize handsomely on this oil price crash. At CVR Energy—a refinery located in the U.S. Midwest—Icahn owns a commanding 70% stake. As a refiner, CVR stands to benefit directly from plummeting oil prices, which create an ideal opportunity to acquire low-cost inventory. A negative price, however, was truly unprecedented. In a Friday media interview, Icahn remarked, “You may never see an opportunity like this again.” He explained that although he typically avoids micromanaging operational details, he urgently instructed CVR Energy to open a futures trading account to seize this rare chance and rapidly build inventory. He said: “When oil prices started falling like this, I called them and said, ‘We still have some storage capacity—and everyone else is going crazy over storage space.’” Icahn revealed that, at the moment oil prices turned negative, CVR attempted to purchase between one and two million barrels. Though he declined to disclose the final volume purchased, he confirmed: “We made some money—and yes, we bought quite a bit.” As a refinery, CVR uses crude oil to produce gasoline and other related products.

Major Recent U.S. Oil & Gas M&A Events

2023— October: ExxonMobil announced its $59.5 billion acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources; Chevron announced its planned $53 billion acquisition of Hess Corporation. December: Occidental Petroleum announced its acquisition of shale oil producer CrownRock for approximately $12 billion; ADNOC signed an agreement with OCI Global to acquire OCI Global’s majority stake in Fertiglobe for a total purchase price of $3.62 billion. 2024— January: Chesapeake Energy and Southwestern Energy agreed to merge in an all-stock transaction valued at $7.4 billion. February: Diamondback Energy announced its acquisition of Endeavor Energy Partners for approximately $26 billion (including debt). March: EQT—the largest natural gas producer in the United States—announced a stock-for-stock transaction to reacquire its former subsidiary, Equitrans Midstream.

CVR Energy to Acquire Marathon Refineries for $4 Billion, WSJ Reports

17 hours ago

CVR Energy Inc., controlled by Carl Icahn, is nearing a $4 billion deal to acquire refineries from Marathon Petroleum Corp., driven by soaring refining margins amidst geopolitical tensions in the Persian Gulf and Russia.

bloomberg

CVR Energy Nears More Than $4 Billion Deal for Marathon Refineries, WSJ Reports

reuters

2026-11-02

CVR Energy to Acquire Marathon Refineries for $4 Billion, WSJ Reports

CVR Energy to Acquire Marathon Refineries for $4 Billion, WSJ Reports

FAQ