Uncertainties

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2021

Unusual or Infrequent Items, or Both [Abstract]

UNCERTAINTIES (COVID-19)

2.    UNCERTAINTIES

The outbreak of COVID-19 and its development into a pandemic in March 2020 resulted in significant economic disruption globally as governmental authorities imposed restrictions, such as stay-at-home orders and other social distancing measures, to slow the spread of COVID-19. These actions significantly reduced global economic activity and negatively impacted many businesses, including our business. We took a number of actions since March 2020 to respond to the impacts from the pandemic on our business, such as reducing transportation fuel production at our refineries and ethanol plants to align with demand. During the three months ended March 31, 2021, our business showed signs of recovery and improvement in demand for and market prices of gasoline and diesel, with both factors reaching near pre-pandemic levels in March 2021. Also, jet fuel has seen improved market indicators, although at a slower pace than other products we produce relative to pre-pandemic levels.

While our business has improved as a result of the increasing demand for and market prices of most of the products that we produce, many uncertainties remain with respect to the pandemic, including its resulting economic effects. Therefore, we are unable to predict the ultimate economic impacts from the pandemic on our business and how quickly national economies can recover once the pandemic subsides, the timing or effectiveness of vaccine distributions or vaccination levels, whether improvements experienced by us so far may reverse, or whether other setbacks may occur. As a result, the adverse impacts of the economic effects of the pandemic on our company may likely continue to be significant. We believe we have proactively responded to many of the known impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business to the extent practicable and we strive to continue to do so, but there can be no assurance that any measures we have taken or may take will be fully effective.