Valero Energy Corporation is a Fortune 500 international manufacturer and marketer of transportation fuels, other petrochemical products, and power. It is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, United States.[2] Throughout the United States and Canada, the company owns and operates 15 refineries, and one in Wales, with a combined throughput capacity of approximately 3 million barrels (480,000 m3) per day, 11 ethanol plants with a combined production capacity of 1.2 billion US gallons (4,500,000 m3) per year, and a 50-megawatt wind farm. Before the 2013 spinoff of CST Brands, Valero was one of the United States’ largest retail operators with approximately 6,800 retail and branded wholesale outlets in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and the Caribbean under the Valero, Diamond Shamrock, Shamrock, Beacon, and Texaco brands.[3]
Valero was created on January 1, 1980, as the successor of Coastal States Gas Corporation’s Subsidiary, LoVaca Gathering Company.[4] Valero took over the natural gas operations of the LoVaca Gathering Company, later renamed the Valero Transmission Company. The name Valero comes from Mission San Antonio de Valero, the original name of the Alamo.[4] Valero acquired Corpus Christi Marine Services Company (“CCMS”), a small barge company in Corpus Christi, Texas in April 1981 when it purchased a stake in Saber Energy Inc. of Houston. In May 1985, Valero Refining and Marketing Company was born from Valero’s subsidiary, Saber Energy, Inc.
In 1997, Valero Energy Company spun off its subsidiary, Valero, to its stockholders.[5] At the same time, the remaining divisions, which consisted of natural gas operations, merged with a wholly owned subsidiary of Pacific Gas and Electric Company.[6] In May of that year, the firm acquired Basis Petroleum, which left it with four refineries in Texas and Louisiana.[7] In 1998, it then acquired a Paulsboro, New Jersey, refinery, the company’s first outside of the Gulf Coast area.[8]
In 2000, Valero purchased ExxonMobil’s Benicia, California, refinery and interest in 350 Exxon-branded service stations in California, mainly in the San Francisco Bay Area. The company also began retailing gasoline under the Valero brand. In June 2001, Valero acquired the Huntway Refining Company, along with two asphalt plants on the West Coast.
On December 31, 2001, Valero completed its acquisition of Ultramar Diamond Shamrock. The merger left Valero with over 4,700 Ultramar, Diamond Shamrock, and Beacon retail sites in the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean. With this acquisition, Valero also received ownership of Shamrock Logistics L.P., which was renamed Valero L.P. In 2006, the division was spun off as NuStar Energy. Starting in 2002, Valero has expanded its marketing to the East Coast, specifically the Northeast and Florida, using the Valero brand. The acquisition also includes all past Diamond Shamrock assets, including the former Sigmor Petroleum assets founded by Thomas E. Turner, founder of TETCO Inc. (the Sigmor brand name was the initials of Sigfried Moore, Turner’s former employer) which merged with Shamrock Oil and Gas in 1960 forming Sigmor Shamrock – which was merged into Diamond Shamrock in 1982. Turner later repurchased Mission Petroleum Carriers when it was acquired by Diamond Shamrock which was the foundation of TETCO,[9] and the business portfolio of the former National Convenience Stores, which was acquired by Diamond Shamrock in November 1995.[10]
On April 25, 2005, Valero agreed to buy Premcor, Inc., for $8 billion in cash and stock to become the largest U.S. refiner, as record prices for gasoline and other fuel boosted profits. On June 30, 2005, Valero announced that it was beginning a two-year process of converting Diamond Shamrock stations to the Valero brand. In the next year, on May 5, 2008, Valero agreed to buy 72 Albertsons gas stations.
Valero laid off 500 employees at its refinery in Delaware City, Delaware on November 20, 2009, due to profitability concerns. It was reported the refinery had lost $1 million per day since the beginning of the year.[11]
On March 11, 2011, Valero announced that it had agreed to a major European purchase from Chevron Corp. for $730 million in cash, not including working capital that will be determined at closing. Estimates on the value of the working capital would place the total price at $1.73 billion. The acquisition included Chevron’s Pembroke Refinery in Wales — one of Europe’s largest and most complex — together with marketing and logistical assets throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland, which include 4 pipelines, 11 terminals, an aviation fuel business, about 1,000 retail outlets, inventory and other items.[12][13][14]
In 2013, Valero spun off its retail operations into a new publicly traded company, CST Brands.[15] Under long-term supply agreements, Valero continues to supply fuel to over 7,400 retail locations, many of which use brand names formerly owned by Valero.[16]
A change to the logo, store canopy and facade was announced in April 2018. Known as “Vanguard”, with various hues of blue, white, and yellow, Valero explained that applying the new design to all its stores would take several months to complete.[17]