Sky Quarry (SKYQ) Stock Soars 120% as Oil Prices Spike and West Coast Refineries Shut Down

Key Takeaways

• Sky Quarry (SKYQ) shares exploded 120% higher on Thursday amid Brent crude surpassing $112 per barrel—a gain exceeding 50% this year
• The company controls the Foreland Refinery, Nevada’s sole refining operation with approximately 5,000 barrels daily processing capacity
• Major California refinery shutdowns by Phillips 66 and Valero eliminated around 290,000 barrels per day from West Coast supply
• Nevada’s daily petroleum consumption exceeds 300,000 barrels, yet the state lacks alternative domestic refining infrastructure
• The company is pursuing agreements with regional crude producers to expand local feedstock supply for its refinery operations

Sky Quarry Inc. (SKYQ) experienced a remarkable trading session on Thursday. Shares skyrocketed 120% as escalating oil prices combined with declining refining infrastructure across the West Coast to highlight the strategic importance of its Nevada operations.

Sky Quarry Inc., SKYQ

Brent crude prices reached approximately $112 per barrel on March 30, marking an increase of over 50% since the beginning of January. The catalyst: Middle Eastern tensions that effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz to the majority of commercial maritime traffic. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s March 10 forecast, Brent crude prices are projected to remain above $95 per barrel through at least the next sixty days.

This environment creates significant advantages for a business controlling Nevada’s sole functioning refinery.

The Foreland Refinery operated by Sky Quarry maintains permitted processing capacity of roughly 5,000 barrels daily. Its output includes diesel fuel, vacuum gas oil, naphtha, and liquid asphalt for paving applications, utilizing crude oil extracted from Nevada and Utah sources.

Nevada’s petroleum product consumption surpasses 300,000 barrels daily. Without additional in-state refining operations, virtually the entire volume must be transported via truck or pipeline from adjacent states—predominantly California.

West Coast Refining Infrastructure Faces Major Contraction

California’s refining landscape has experienced significant deterioration. Phillips 66 permanently closed its Los Angeles-area Wilmington refining complex at 2025’s conclusion. Valero’s Benicia operation is scheduled for shutdown by mid-2026.

Together, these facilities accounted for approximately 290,000 barrels per day of processing capacity—representing roughly 18% of California’s entire refining infrastructure, based on data from the Oil & Gas Journal and TankTerminals.com.

This development intensifies fuel supply constraints throughout the western United States, substantially enhancing the strategic value of the Foreland Refinery.

Sky Quarry generated $16.4 million in revenue during the trailing twelve months. Nevertheless, the company has experienced substantial cash consumption and maintains a significant debt burden, factors that warrant careful investor consideration.

Company Pursues Regional Supply Chain Development

The organization is currently engaged in discussions with regional crude oil producers and mineral rights holders throughout Nevada to expand local production volumes that could directly supply the refinery.

Sky Quarry also maintains ownership of the PR Spring operation in eastern Utah. This facility is engineered to convert asphaltic bitumen oil sands ore into heavy crude oil and contains an estimated 180 million barrels of asphaltic bitumen ore reserves.

The PR Spring location features two Solar Centaur Caterpillar Gensets providing combined electrical generation capacity of 7 megawatts. Sky Quarry recently published a Request for Proposals seeking commercial applications for these power generation assets.

Regarding corporate governance, the organization recently enlarged its board of directors and named three new independent directors—Omar Hussein, Alexander Monje, and Robert Byrne—to satisfy Nasdaq listing standards requiring a majority independent board composition.

Shares had already climbed 25% during the preceding week and gained 41.5% year-to-date before Thursday’s dramatic surge.

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