Major U.S. refiner Valero Energy yields 2% and has gotten a boost recently due to instability in the Ukraine. In 2013, a drop in the spread between Brent and WTI crude prices hurt its profit margins, but Valero still upped its throughput during the year, and its significant capital expenditures in 2014 could lead to further growth. Valero's competitive advantages include its size and the location of its operations, and it has been a successful major player in ethanol. Valero is poised to benefit from the proposed (and controversial) Keystone XL Pipeline, and has been investing in railcars to help bring in crude from inland fields. Bears worry about rising crude prices, though, and would like to see more growth drivers for the company.