Vertex Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ: VTNR), an environmental services company that recycles industrial waste streams and off-specification commercial chemical products, announced today that its common stock will be included in the Russell 3000®, Russell 2000®, and Russell Global Indexes, along with other indices, after the reconstitution of Russell Investment Group's family of US Indexes which was completed on June 30, 2014 as described on www.russell.com/indexes.

Membership in the Russell Global Index, which remains in place for one year, means automatic inclusion in the appropriate large-cap, small-cap, all-cap indexes as well as the applicable style, sector and country indexes. The Russell Global Index represents the investable global equity market and its segments comprehensively. It consists of more than 10,000 securities in 47 countries and offers over 300 key subindexes. Consistent with the design of the family of Russell U.S. Equity Indexes, it is constructed using float-adjusted market capitalization weights and represents 98% of the investable global equity market. Russell produces a family of market cap-weighted U.S. equity indexes. All U.S. indexes are subsets of the Russell 3000® Index, which represents approximately 99% of the U.S. equity market. The Russell 2000 Index is a subset of the Russell 3000 Index and represents approximately 10% of the total market capitalization of the Russell 3000. It includes approximately 2000 small-cap companies based on a combination of their market cap and current index membership.

Benjamin Cowart, Chairman and CEO, of Vertex Energy, Inc., stated, "We are pleased with the addition of Vertex Energy, Inc. into the Russell Indexes. This addition will further enhance the visibility of the Vertex story, and we anticipate increased liquidity and broader exposure to institutional investors as a result of such addition. We believe that recent decisions, including the acquisition of Omega Holdings and a capital raise of $17.1 million, will grow our market presence and increase our long-term financial performance. We are delighted with achieving this great milestone in our history."

About the Russell Indexes

Russell determines membership for its equity indexes primarily by objective, market-capitalization rankings and style attributes. Russell Indexes are widely used by investment managers and institutional investors for index funds and as benchmarks for both active and passive investment strategies. As of March 31, 2014, Russell has more than $259 billion in assets under management and works with over 2,500 institutional clients, independent distribution partners and individual investors globally. Approximately $5.2 trillion in assets are benchmarked to the Russell Indexes.

About Vertex Energy, Inc.

Vertex Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ: VTNR) is a leading environmental services company that recycles industrial waste streams and off-specification commercial chemical products. Its primary focus is recycling used motor oil and other petroleum by-product streams. Vertex purchases these streams from an established network of local and regional collectors and generators. Vertex also manages the transport, storage and delivery of the aggregated feedstock and product streams to end users, and manages the re-refining of a portion of its aggregated petroleum streams in order to sell them as higher-value end products. Vertex sells its aggregated petroleum streams as feedstock to other re-refineries and fuel blenders or as replacement fuel for use in industrial burners. The re-refining of used motor oil that Vertex manages takes place at its facility, which uses a proprietary Thermal Chemical Extraction Process ("TCEP") technology. Based in Houston, Texas, Vertex also has offices in Georgia and California. More information on Vertex can be found at www.vertexenergy.com.

Forward-Looking Information

This release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements relate to, among other things, our inclusion in the Russell Indexes and any anticipated benefits of increased liquidity and broader exposure to institutional investors from having our common stock included in the Russell Global Indexes. These statements are based on management's current expectations and accordingly are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. Actual results and the timing of events may vary materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements due to various important factors, including, without limitation, risks and uncertainties related to Vertex’s business. More detailed information about those factors is set forth in Vertex's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Vertex's annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and current reports on Form 8-K. Vertex is under no obligation (and expressly disclaims any such obligation) to update or alter its forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.


Contacts

Investor Relation Contacts
Porter, LeVay & Rose, Inc.
Marlon Nurse, DM, 212-564-4700
SVP – Investor Relations
or
Vertex Energy, Inc.
Matthew Lieb, 310-400-0421