VERTEX ENERGY : ANNOUNCES 2ND QTR AND YTD 2017 FINANCIAL RESULTS

Investor Relations Contact: Marlon Nurse, D.M. Senior Vice President

212-564-4700

VERTEX ENERGY, INC. ANNOUNCES SECOND QUARTER AND YEAR-TO-DATE 2017 FINANCIAL RESULTS Revenue increased 51% year-over-year, while Gross Profit margin was 14.7 percent Conference call to be held today at 9:00 A.M. EDT

HOUSTON, TX - August 8, 2017 Vertex Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:VTNR), a refiner and marketer of high-quality specialty hydrocarbon products, announced today its financial results for the second quarter and year-to-date, the three and six months ended June 30, 2017.

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS FOR SECOND QUARTER OF 2017

• Revenue increased to $36.9 million, compared to $24.4 million

• Gross profit was up 3% to $5.4 million, while gross profit margin was 14.7%

• Overall volume was up 19%

• Net loss of $2.7 million, or a loss of $0.08 per share, an improvement over a net loss of $0.21 per share a year ago

  FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS FOR FIRST SIX MONTHS OF 2017

• Revenue increased to $71.7 million, compared to $38.6 million

• Gross profit was up 89% to $9.5 million, while gross profit margin was 13.2%

• Overall volume was up 30%

• Net loss of $6.7 million, or a loss of $0.21 per share, an improvement over a net loss of $0.29 per share a year ago

  DIVISION FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS FOR SECOND QUARTER AND FIRST SIX MONTHS OF 2017

  Black Oil division, which includes our Thermal Chemical Extraction Process (TCEP) and Marrero and Heartland business units, is a collector, aggregator, logistics manager, and re-refiner of used motor oil, posted:

  For Second Quarter of 2017:

• Revenue was $27.4 million, an increase of 38% from a year ago

• Gross profit increased 3% to $4.4 million

• Volume increased 14% and per barrel margins were down 10% compared to year ago

  For First Six Months of 2017:

• Revenue was $52.2 million, an increase of 74% from a year ago

• Gross profit increased 129% to $7.4 million

• Volume increased 29% and per barrel margins were up 77% from a year ago

  Refining and Marketing, which produces three distinct products from distressed hydrocarbon streams, posted:

  For Second Quarter of 2017:

• Revenue was $5.2 million, an increase of 77% from a year ago

• Gross profit decreased 39% to $462,000

• Volume increased 54% and per barrel margins was down 60% from the same period a year ago

  For First Six Months of 2017:

• Revenue was $10.6 million, up 91% from a year ago

• Gross profit declined 6% to $1.2 million

• Volume rose 32% and per barrel margins were down 28% from a year ago

  Vertex Recovery, which is responsible for the proper recovery and management of hydrocarbon streams, the marketing of Group III base oils and the proper dismantling and recovery of metals from industrial and marine facilities, posted:

  For Second Quarter of 2017:

• Revenue was $4.3 million, an improvement of 160% from a year ago

• Gross profit was up 141% to $548,000

• Volume increased 9% and per barrel margins was up 120% from the same period ago

  For First Six Month of 2017:

• Revenue was $8.9 million, an increase of 193% from a year ago

• Gross profit rose 76% to $936,000

• Volume jumped 31% and per barrel margins were up 35% from the same period a year ago

Benjamin P. Cowart, Chairman and CEO of Vertex Energy, stated, "We are encouraged by the continued improvements of the Company's operations. One of our goals for 2017 has been to increase our throughput at our facilities. In addition, our progress was demonstrated in our operating performance.

Production volumes at each of our facilities were significantly above our internal goals driven by continued improvements at each of our facilities."

Mr. Cowart added, "Capital investments in our facilities and our focus on increasing volume continue to have a positive impact on our business operations. Although we experienced spread compression in our Marrero operations during the second quarter, we are pleased by the increase in our collected volume and the performance at our Heartland facility."

Mr. Cowart concluded, "Our team has worked very hard to stabilize and improve our financial performance this year. We are confident in our business model and the stability of our business operations for the long-term."

SECOND QUARTER 2017 FINANCIAL RESULTS CONFERENCE CALL

Management will host a conference call today at 9 A.M. EDT. Those who wish to participate in the conference call may telephone [phone] from the U.S. and International callers may telephone [phone], approximately 15 minutes before the call. A webcast will also be available under the Investor Relations section at: www.vertexenergy.com.

A digital replay will be available by telephone approximately two hours after the completion of the call until December 1, 2017, and may be accessed by dialing 877-660-6853 from the U.S. or 201-612-7415 for international callers using conference ID # 13666651.

ABOUT VERTEX ENERGY, INC.

Vertex Energy, Inc. (VTNR) is a specialty refiner and marketer of high-quality hydrocarbon products. Our business divisions include aggregation and transportation of refinery feedstocks such as used motor oil and other petroleum and chemical co-products to produce and commercialize a broad range of high purity intermediate and finished products such as fuel oils, marine grade distillates and high purity base oils used for lubrication. Vertex operates on a regional model with strategic hubs located in key geographic areas in the United States. With its headquarters in Houston, Texas, Vertex Energy's processing operations are located in Houston and Port Arthur (TX), Marrero (LA), and Columbus (OH). For more information on Vertex Energy please contact Porter, LeVay & Rose, Inc.'s investor relations representative Marlon Nurse,

D.M. at 212-564-4700 or visit our website at www.vertexenergy.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements, including information about management's view of Vertex Energy's future expectations, plans and prospects, within the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the "Act"). In particular, when used in the preceding discussion, the words "believes," "hopes," "expects," "intends," "plans," "anticipates," or "may," and similar conditional expressions are intended to identify forward- looking statements within the meaning of the Act, and are subject to the safe harbor created by the Act. Any statements made in this news release other than those of historical fact, about an action, event or development, are forward-looking statements.

These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the results of Vertex Energy, its divisions and concepts to be materially different than those expressed or implied in such statements. These risk factors and others are included from time to time in documents Vertex Energy files with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to, its Form 10-Ks, Form 10-Qs and Form 8-Ks. Other unknown or unpredictable factors also could have material adverse effects on Vertex Energy's future results. The forward-looking statements included in this press release are made only as of the date hereof. Vertex Energy cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Finally, Vertex Energy undertakes no obligation to update these statements after the date of this release, except as required by law, and also takes no obligation to update or correct information prepared by third parties that are not paid for by Vertex Energy.

Vertex Energy, Inc. Reconciliation of Net Income (Loss) attributable to Vertex Energy, Inc., to Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) and Adjusted EBITDA*

Net (loss) income attributable to Vertex

For the Three Months Ended June 30, 2017 For the Six Months Ended June 30, 2017

Energy, Inc. $ (1,867,506) $ (5,063,914)

Interest income	$ (2,277) $ (4,229)
Interest expense	$ 618,448 $ 1,954,935
Depreciation and amortization	$ 1,645,030 $ 3,245,090
Tax (expense) benefit	$ - $ -
EBITDA*	393,695 131,882
Add (deduct): Stock-based compensation	$ 148,736 $ 297,473
Adjusted EBITDA*	592,431 429,355

* EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA are non-GAAP financial measures. These measurements are not recognized in accordance with GAAP and should not be viewed as an alternative to GAAP measures of performance.

EBITDA represents net income before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. Adjusted EBITDA is defined as EBITDA before unrealized losses (gains) on derivative contracts and stock-based compensation expense. EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA are presented because we believe they provide additional useful information to investors due to the various noncash items during the period. EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA have limitations as analytical tools, and you should not consider them in isolation, or as substitute for analysis of our operating results as reported under GAAP. Some of these limitations are: