There's hope But that doesn't necessarily mean failure. There's still a lot to look forward to. Post spin-off, Phillips 66 will become the country's second largest independent refiner, with a working interest in 12 refineries. Out of these, six are located in the Mid-Continental region and the Gulf coast. Refineries in these regions have the advantage of being located close to the delivery point of WTI crude oil in Cushing, Okla. These refineries could obtain the cheaper WTI blend as compared with the more expensive Brent crude, the international benchmark. Refiners such as HollyFrontier ( NYS: HFC ) and Western Refining ( NYS: WNR ) has taken advantage of the situation in the past 12 months -- particularly at HollyFrontier, which saw operational earnings skyrocket. Conoco's Chemicals segment, CPChem, has been looking promising as well. While this segment currently represents just 2% of the total assets of the integrated giant, the future looks good.