Prepared Remarks:

Operator

Greetings. Welcome to Valero Energy Corporation's first quarter 2022 earnings call. [Operator instructions] Please note, this conference is being recorded. At this time, I'll now turn the conference over to Homer Bhullar, vice president, investments and finance.

Mr. Bhullar, you may now begin.

Homer Bhullar -- Vice President, Investor Relations

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Valero Energy Corporation's first quarter 2022 earnings conference call. With me today are Joe Gorder, our chairman and CEO; Lane Riggs, our president and COO; Jason Fraser, our executive vice president and CFO; Gary Simmons, our executive president and chief commercial officer; and several other members of Valero's senior management team. If you have not received the earnings release and would like a copy, you can find one on our website at investorvalero.com. Also attached to the earnings release are tables that provide additional financial information on our business segments and reconciliations and disclosures for adjusted metrics mentioned on this call.

If you have any questions after reviewing these tables, please feel free to contact our investor relations team after the call. I would now like to direct your attention to the forward-looking statement disclaimer contained in the press release. In summary, it says that statements in the press release and on this conference call that state the company's or management's expertise or predictions of the future are forward-looking statements intended to be covered by the safe harbor provisions under federal securities laws. There are many factors that could cause actual results to differ from our expectations, including those we've described in our filings with the SEC.

Now, I'll turn the call over to Joe for opening remarks.

Joe Gorder -- Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Thanks, Homer, and good morning, everyone. I'm pleased to report that today, we delivered solid financial results for the first quarter, led by a continued recovery in our refining segment. Refining margins were supported by strong product demand, coupled with very low product inventories globally. Refinery capacity rationalizations that have taken place in the last couple of years continue to contribute to the supply tightness.

In addition, high natural gas prices in Europe are supporting product cracks to compensate for the higher operating costs. This, in turn, provides a structural margin advantage for U.S. refineries particularly those located in the Gulf Coast, where natural gas costs are significantly lower than in Europe. Turning to our low carbon segments.