What United Refining Company does

United Refining Company (URC) is a privately held, independent petroleum refiner and marketer founded in 1902 and headquartered at 15 Bradley Street, Warren, Pennsylvania. The company operates a 70,000 barrel-per-day refinery in Warren that processes crude oil delivered through its wholly owned Westover Express Pipeline (WEX, acquired from Enbridge Line 10 in June 2020 and fully operated by URC since September 2023) and the 101-mile Kiantone Pipeline running from the Canada-US border to the refinery. URC's core business is the vertical integration of crude supply, refining, and downstream distribution of refined products including gasoline, distillates, diesel, and asphalt across three US states (Pennsylvania, New York, and Ohio). URC operates five wholly owned subsidiaries: Kwik Fill, Country Fair, and Keystone (retail marketing brands that run company-owned full service, self service, and full-line convenience stores, many with prepared food programs), plus Westover Express Pipeline Limited (WEX) and Kiantone Pipeline Corp. (midstream assets). The retail footprint exceeds 400 locations following the July 2024 acquisition of the 14-store Pump N Pantry chain in Montrose, Pennsylvania, which was rebranded to Kwik Fill/Red Apple. The company is privately controlled by John Catsimatidis through Red Apple Group, a diversified New York-based conglomerate founded in 1968 with disclosed group revenue above $7 billion.

Name

United Refining Company

Legal name

United Refining Company

Website

https://urc.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1902

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

5,001–10,000 employees

Short description

United Refining Company is a privately held independent refiner and marketer of petroleum products founded in 1902 and headquartered in Warren, Pennsylvania, operating a 70,000 barrel-per-day refinery, owned crude pipelines, and 400+ retail fuel and convenience locations across Pennsylvania, New York, and Ohio under the Kwik Fill, Country Fair, and Keystone brands.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Petroleum Refining and Marketing

NAICS

Petroleum Refineries (324110), Petroleum Refineries (32411), Petroleum Bulk Stations and Terminals (424710), Petroleum and Petroleum Products Merchant Wholesalers (4247), Petroleum and Petroleum Products Merchant Wholesalers (except Bulk Stations and Terminals) (424720), Gasoline Stations (4571)

SIC

Petroleum Refining (2911), Wholesale-Petroleum Bulk Stations & Terminals (5171), Wholesale-Petroleum & Petroleum Products (No Bulk Stations) (5172)

akta.pro primary industry

Distillation & Fractionation (Crude, Condensate & NGL Splitters) (EUALAGAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Refinery Blending & Product Quality Control (Gasoline/Diesel/Jet Blending, Additives) (EUALAGAJ), Refinery Offsites, Storage & Loading (Tankage, Truck/Rail/Marine Loading) (EUALAGAK), Liquid Bulk Petroleum Terminals (Crude, Refined Products) (TLAHABAH), Branded Fuels Wholesaling & Jobber Distribution (EUALAIAB)

Keywords

• Petroleum refining
• Wholesale fuel distribution
• Convenience store retail
• Fleet fuel cards
• Crude oil pipelines

Headquarters

HQ city

Warren

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Refined Petroleum Products Sales: United Refining Company refines North American crude oil and markets petroleum products including gasoline, diesel, distillates, and asphalt through wholesale and retail channels.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

United Refining Company is an independent refiner and marketer of petroleum products operating a 70,000 barrel-per-day refinery in Warren, Pennsylvania. The company distributes refined gasoline, diesel, distillates, and asphalt through two Retail Marketing divisions (Kwik Fill/Red Apple and Country Fair) covering over 400 outlets across Pennsylvania, New York, and Ohio, alongside a Wholesale Marketing Department serving distributor, commercial, and government accounts, and fleet fueling card programs.

Product overview

United Refining Company is an independent refiner and marketer of petroleum products operating over 365 retail outlets across Pennsylvania, New York, and Ohio (now over 400 following the Pump N Pantry acquisition). The company operates two Retail Marketing divisions under the Kwik Fill/Red Apple and Country Fair brands, offering company-owned full service, self service, and full-line convenience stores with prepared food programs. The Wholesale Marketing Department offers gasoline and distillates to distributor, commercial, and government accounts. Additionally, the company provides fleet card services including the Kwik Fill Fleet Fueling Card, URC Fleeting Fueling Plus Card, and United Universal Fleet Card for nationwide fleet fuel management.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Kwik Fill: Retail marketing division and convenience store chain operated by United Refining Company, offering prepared foods and fuel.
• Country Fair
• Keystone
• KwikPAY
• United Universal Fleet Card
• URC Fleet Fueling Plus

Products and services

• Kwik Fill / Red Apple Retail Stores Company-owned retail convenience stores and fuel stations operating under the Kwik Fill and Red Apple brands, serving individual consumers with gasoline, convenience store products, and prepared foods across Pennsylvania, New York, and Ohio.
• Country Fair Retail Stores Company-owned retail convenience stores and fuel stations operating under the Country Fair brand, serving individual consumers with gasoline, convenience store products, and prepared foods.
• Wholesale Gasoline and Distillates Bulk wholesale supply of refined gasoline and distillates sold by United Refining Company's Wholesale Marketing Department to distributor, commercial, and government accounts.
• Kwik Fill Charge Card Charge card issued by Kwik Fill providing consumer loyalty customers with an additional 5 cents per gallon savings when used for payment at Kwik Fill/Red Apple locations.
• Kwik Fill Fleet Fueling Card Fleet fueling card program enabling fleet operators to manage vehicle fuel purchases at Kwik Fill locations.
• URC Fleet Fueling Plus Card Enhanced fleet fueling program with comprehensive purchase activity reporting covering date, time, location, gallons, MPG, products, total amount, exceptions, odometer readings, and cost per mile, designed for fleet management cost control.
• United Universal Fleet Card National fleet fuel card accepted at over 90% of US retail fuel locations through the Wright Express network (50,000+ with diesel, 45,000 service centers), with 5 cents per gallon savings at URC locations, comprehensive reporting, online account management, and 24x7 customer service.

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• PBF Energy: Independent East Coast petroleum refiner operating Delaware City, Paulsboro, and Torrance refineries plus wholesale/retail logistics — direct overlap with URC's Northeast refining and wholesale marketing footprint.
• Sunoco LP: Master limited partnership focused on Northeast motor-fuel distribution and retail — overlapping product set (gasoline, distillates) and Northeast wholesale footprint.
• Global Partners: Northeast-focused petroleum distributor and retail operator with terminaling and refined-product logistics across the same PA/NY/OH geography URC serves.
• Delek US Holdings: Independent downstream operator with refining and retail/fuel distribution segments — comparable structure combining refining throughput with branded wholesale and retail marketing.
• Monroe Energy (PBF Energy subsidiary): Operator of the Trainer, PA refinery on the same Northeast crude/naphtha supply region as URC's Warren facility — closest geographic refining competitor.

Emerging players

• Murphy USA: Pure-play retail fuel and convenience chain with ~1,750 stores — directly comparable convenience-store/fuel-retail economics to URC's Kwik Fill/Country Fair network.
• Casey's General Stores: Convenience-store operator with growing fuel offering and prepared-food focus — overlaps URC's prepared-food/c-store attachment strategy across a similar mid-size footprint.

Broad incumbents

• Marathon Petroleum: Largest US independent refiner with refining, midstream, and retail — broader portfolio but overlapping refined products and increasingly overlapping convenience-retail competition.
• Phillips 66: Major integrated refiner with midstream and marketing segments — overlapping refined-products wholesale and downstream business with national scale advantages.
• Alimentation Couche-Tard (Circle K): World's largest independent convenience-store and fuel retailer — comparable c-store/fuel economics and active acquirer of regional fuel retail networks competing with URC's expansion strategy.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/united-refining-company

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Subsidiaries5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about United Refining Company