Renewable Energy Group is a biodiesel production company headquartered in

Ames, Iowa Ames () is a city in Story County, Iowa, United States, located approximately north of Des Moines in central Iowa. It is best known as the home of Iowa State University (ISU), with leading agriculture, design, engineering, and veterinary medici ...

. The company operates 12 biorefineries and a

feedstock A raw material, also known as a feedstock, unprocessed material, or primary commodity, is a basic material that is used to produce goods, finished goods, energy, or intermediate materials that are feedstock for future finished products. As feedst ...

processing facility. , the company is a Fortune 1000 corporation.

History

Renewable Energy Group began in 1996 as the biodiesel division of West Central Cooperative with the construction of a plant in Ralston, Iowa. In 2006, the company separated from West Central and moved its headquarters to Ames. In 2013, the company acquired Tulsa-based biofuels company Syntroleum Corporation amid that company's struggles for profitability. In 2015 it acquired the assets of

Grays Harbor, Washington Grays Harbor County is a county in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, the population was 75,636. Its county seat is Montesano, and its largest city is Aberdeen. Grays Harbor County is included in the Aberdeen Micropolitan ...

-based biodiesel company Imperium Renewables. On February 28, 2022, the company announced they would be acquired by the California-based oil company

Chevron Corporation Chevron Corporation is an American multinational energy corporation. The second-largest direct descendant of Standard Oil, and originally known as the Standard Oil Company of California (shortened to Socal or CalSo), it is headquartered in S ...

. On June 13, the acquisition was completed.

Leadership

Upon separation from West Central, the initial CEO of the company was Jeff Stroburg, succeeded in 2011 by Daniel Oh. After Oh's abrupt and unexpected resignation in 2017, Reginald Howard became interim CEO, and was replaced in 2018 by Cynthia Warner.

Plant explosions

In June 2001, the predecessor company's InterWest facility in Ralston exploded, leaving one man in critical condition. The company's biofuels production facility in Geismar, Louisiana suffered from explosions in April and September 2015. As a result of this explosion, Renewable Energy Group was cited with three "willful" safety violations and was fined $70,000 by OSHA.

References

External links

* {{Authority control, state=expanded Companies based in Ames, Iowa Companies formerly listed on the Nasdaq Renewable resource companies established in 2006 American companies established in 2006 2006 establishments in Iowa Renewable energy companies of the United States Biodiesel producers Chevron Corporation 2022 mergers and acquisitions American corporate subsidiaries