Valero Energy

Valero Energy Corporation was formed in 1980 as the corporate successor of Lo-Vaca Gathering Company, a gas pipeline subsidiary of Coastal Corporation.⁠[1]

William E. Greehey had worked in Coastal’s finance division and in 1974 was named president and CEO of LoVaca by its court-appointed board. After Valero was created on January 1, 1980, he moved the headquarters to San Antonio and became Valero’s chairman and CEO.⁠[2]

In 1984, Valero officially commissioned its first full-scale refinery, in Corpus Christi, Texas.⁠[1]

Valero added the Texas City, Houston and Krotz Springs refineries on May 1, 1997. On July 31, 1997, the former Valero spun off its refining company, Valero, to stockholders and merged with a PG&E Corporation subsidiary.⁠[3]

Valero began operating the Paulsboro Refinery in New Jersey on September 17, 1998, and the Benicia Refinery in California on May 16, 2000.⁠[3]

Valero and Ultramar Diamond Shamrock completed their $6 billion merger on December 31, 2001, giving Valero 12 refineries with nearly 2 million barrels per day of capacity and more than 5,000 retail outlets. Greehey said: “We completed this merger in record time - only 7 months - and without any layoffs.”⁠[4]

In May 2004, Standard & Poor’s announced that Valero would join the S&P 500S&P 500The S&P 500 is a U.S. large-cap equity index compiled by S&P Dow Jones Indices. It includes 500 leading companies, covers about 80% of available market capitalization and is described by S&P DJI as “widely regarded as the best single gauge of large-cap U.S. equities.”Open the full entry index, replacing John Hancock Financial, on a date to be announced. Valero had been part of the S&P MidCap 400 index. Greehey said: “Earning a spot in the S&P 500 is a big achievement.”⁠[5]

On June 16, 2005, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency announced comprehensive Clean Air Act settlements with Valero and Sunoco. Valero agreed to pay a $5.5 million civil penalty, and Colorado, Louisiana, New Jersey, Oklahoma and Texas joined the Valero settlement.⁠[6]

On September 1, 2005, Valero closed its $8 billion acquisition of Premcor and its four refineries, becoming North America’s largest refining company with 18 refineries and crude capacity of 2.7 million barrels per calendar day. Greehey said: “We have improved our leverage to product margins and further enhanced our sour crude processing capabilities.”⁠[7]

Greehey stepped down as chief executive at year-end 2005 and was succeeded by Bill Klesse, who had joined Valero with the Diamond Shamrock acquisition in 2001 and became executive vice president and chief operating officer in 2003. In January 2007, Greehey resigned as chairman and from the board, and Klesse was elected chairman.⁠[8]

On August 16, 2007, the Department of Justice and the EPA announced a Clean Air Act settlement with Valero covering the former Premcor refineries in Port Arthur, Texas; Memphis, Tennessee; and Lima, Ohio. Valero agreed to install $232 million in new and upgraded pollution controls and pay a $4.25 million penalty.⁠[9]

In 2009, Valero bought seven ethanol plants from VeraSun Energy Corporation, and in 2010 it bought three more, bringing its ethanol plants to 10.⁠[1]

In August 2011, Valero completed its purchase of Chevron’s Pembroke refinery in Wales and marketing and logistics assets throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland for $730 million, excluding working capital, funded with cash. Joe Gorder, then president of Valero’s European operations, said: “We believe this acquisition fits perfectly.”⁠[10]

The Pembroke refinery has a capacity of 270,000 barrels per day, and the deal included a network of more than 1,000 TexacoTexacoTexaco is an American oil company and fuel brand founded in Texas in 1902 as the Texas Company; its 1984 acquisition of Getty Oil led to a massive lawsuit by Pennzoil and a 1987 bankruptcy filing, and after merging with Chevron in 2001 it became a Chevron brand.Open the full entry-branded wholesale sites.⁠[11]

On May 1, 2013, Valero completed the spin-off of its retail business, distributing 80 percent of CST Brands’ common stock to Valero stockholders at one CST Brands share for every nine Valero shares.⁠[12]

Joe Gorder became Valero’s chief executive on May 1, 2014, and chairman of the board on December 31, 2014.⁠[13]

On January 10, 2019, Valero completed its merger with Valero Energy Partners LP, a master limited partnership it had formed, acquiring all outstanding common units it did not already own. The partnership’s units ceased trading on the New York Stock Exchange that day.⁠[14]

Lane Riggs succeeded Gorder as chief executive effective June 30, 2023, and Gorder became executive chairman of the board. Riggs had overseen refining operations, crude and feedstock supply, and planning and economics.⁠[13]

On October 30, 2024, Valero announced that Executive Chairman Gorder would retire from that role and from the board as of the close of business on December 31, 2024, and that CEO and President Riggs had been elected to the additional position of Chairman of the Board.⁠[15]

On October 31, 2024, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District and the California Air Resources Board announced an $82 million settlement with Valero, the district’s largest penalty, over an estimated 8,400 tons of unreported emissions from the Benicia refinery between 2003 and 2019. Valero said it “does not admit or necessarily agree with” the allegations.⁠[16]

In April 2025, Valero’s subsidiary Valero Refining notified the California Energy Commission of plans “to idle, restructure, or cease refining operations” at its Benicia refinery by the end of April 2026. The refinery accounted for about 9 percent of California’s crude refining capacity and employed about 400 people.⁠[17]

At the end of 2025, Valero owned 15 refineries in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom with about 3.2 million barrels per day of throughput capacity, 12 ethanol plants and, through the Diamond Green Diesel joint venture, two renewable diesel plants. It had 9,811 employees.⁠[18]

Valero’s 2025 revenues were $122.687 billion, versus $129.881 billion in 2024. Net income attributable to stockholders was $2.3 billion, or $7.57 per share, versus $2.8 billion in 2024. Riggs said: “2025 was our best year for mechanical availability, personnel safety, and environmental performance.”⁠[19]

Valero ceased refining at Benicia; “full idling of all processing units was completed in April 2026.”⁠[20]

On October 22, 2026, Valero posted third-quarter revenues of $46.1 billion and net income attributable to stockholders of $6.8 billion, or $23.89 per diluted share, versus $1.1 billion a year earlier.⁠[20]