Valero Energy Corporation

What does Valero Energy own?
Valero Energy owns 15 petroleum refineries across the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, 14 ethanol plants in the United States, and a 50 percent stake in the Diamond Green Diesel renewable diesel joint venture. The company also operates approximately 7,000 retail and wholesale fuel outlets under the Valero, Diamond Shamrock, and Beacon brands.

Is Valero Energy publicly traded?
Yes. Valero Energy trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol VLO. The company is a component of the S&P 500 and is widely held by institutional investors, index funds, and individual shareholders. No parent company or controlling shareholder exists.

Who founded Valero Energy?
Valero was formed in 1980 as a subsidiary of Coastal States Gas Corporation to hold refining and marketing assets. The company was spun off as an independent entity in 1984. It was not founded by an individual but was created as a corporate entity through asset transfers and an IPO.

Where is Valero Energy headquartered?
Valero Energy is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, USA. The company has maintained its headquarters in San Antonio since its founding and operates its corporate, finance, and strategic planning functions from that location.

How many brands does Valero Energy own?
Valero owns four primary fuel and retail brands: Valero, Diamond Shamrock, Beacon, and Valero Renewables. The company's brand portfolio is focused on fuel marketing rather than consumer goods.

Who owns Valero Energy?
Valero Energy is a publicly traded corporation with no controlling shareholder. The company is owned by institutional investors, mutual funds, index funds, and individual shareholders who purchase shares on the New York Stock Exchange. As an S&P 500 component, a significant portion of Valero's shares are held by passive index funds.

What is Valero Energy's revenue?
For fiscal year 2025, Valero reported total revenue of approximately $128 billion and adjusted net income of $3.3 billion. In Q2 2026, the company reported revenue of $44.5 billion and net income of $3.7 billion, a record for any second quarter.

Has Valero made major acquisitions recently?
Valero's most recent major acquisitions were the Ultramar Diamond Shamrock deal in 2001 ($4 billion) and the Premcor acquisition in 2005 ($8.7 billion). In recent years, the company has focused on operational improvements and organic growth rather than large-scale M&A. The company is completing a $230 million FCC Unit optimization project at its St. Charles refinery in 2026.

Valero was created in 1980 as a subsidiary of Coastal States Gas Corporation, a Houston-based natural gas pipeline company. The subsidiary was formed to hold refining and marketing assets that Coastal States had acquired. In 1984, Coastal States spun off Valero as an independent company through an initial public offering. The new entity was named Valero Energy Corporation and initially focused on natural gas liquids and refining operations.

For its first decade, Valero was a relatively small refiner. The company operated a limited number of assets and generated modest revenue compared to the integrated oil majors that dominated the industry. The turning point came in 1997, when Valero acquired a refinery in Corpus Christi, Texas. This acquisition gave Valero a meaningful foothold in petroleum refining and set the stage for rapid expansion.

In 2001, Valero completed the largest acquisition in its history, purchasing Ultramar Diamond Shamrock for approximately $4 billion in cash and stock. The deal doubled Valero's refining capacity overnight, adding refineries in Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Wyoming, and California. It also brought the Diamond Shamrock and Ultramar retail brands into Valero's portfolio. The acquisition transformed Valero from a mid-sized refiner into the largest independent refiner in the United States.

In 2005, Valero acquired Premcor for approximately $8.7 billion in cash and stock. The Premcor deal added four refineries with a combined capacity of approximately 800,000 barrels per day, further consolidating Valero's position as the industry leader. The acquisition also gave Valero access to additional heavy crude processing capacity, which became increasingly valuable as heavy crude traded at a discount to light sweet crude.

Valero went public on the NYSE in 2001, having previously traded on the Nasdaq. The move to the NYSE coincided with the Ultramar Diamond Shamrock acquisition and reflected the company's new scale.

In the late 2000s and early 2010s, Valero began investing in renewable fuels. The company started producing corn ethanol through a series of plant acquisitions in the Midwest. Valero now operates 14 ethanol plants with a combined production capacity of approximately 4.8 million gallons per day. In 2012, Valero partnered with Darling Ingredients to form Diamond Green Diesel (DGD), a joint venture that produces renewable diesel at a facility in Port Arthur, Texas. DGD has since become one of the largest renewable diesel producers in North America.

The company has also made strategic divestments. In 2013, Valero spun off its retail convenience store business, CST Brands, as a separate publicly traded company. CST Brands was later acquired by Alimentation Couche-Tard in 2017. Valero retained its branded wholesale fuel marketing network after the spin-off.

In 2025, Valero reported record mechanical availability and achieved record refining throughput and ethanol production in both the fourth quarter and the full year. The company generated adjusted net income of $3.3 billion for FY2025 and returned $4.0 billion to shareholders. Valero increased its quarterly dividend by 6 percent to $1.20 per share in January 2026.

In the second quarter of 2026, Valero reported net income of $3.7 billion, or $12.62 per share, a record for any second quarter in the company's history. The results were driven by increased heavy crude supply from Venezuela, which Valero's Gulf Coast refineries are configured to process. Refining throughput averaged 3.0 million barrels per day in Q2 2026. The renewable diesel segment reported $717 million in operating income, a sharp rebound from a $79 million operating loss in Q2 2025.

Valero is also investing in operational improvements. The company is completing a $230 million FCC Unit optimization project at its St. Charles refinery in Louisiana, expected to begin operations in the third quarter of 2026. The project will enhance the refinery's ability to produce high-value products.

Valero has faced regulatory and environmental scrutiny typical of large petroleum refiners. The company operates under stringent environmental regulations including EPA refinery emissions standards, the Renewable Fuel Standard, and state-level carbon and fuel regulations.

In 2019, Valero agreed to pay a $2.9 million civil penalty to resolve EPA allegations that its Houston refinery violated Clean Air Act emissions standards for benzene. The settlement required the company to implement additional monitoring and controls. Valero did not admit liability as part of the agreement.

The company has also faced legal challenges related to fuel pricing. In 2022, a California court dismissed a lawsuit alleging that Valero and other refiners had engaged in price manipulation during the 2015 gas leak at the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility. The court ruled that the plaintiffs had not provided sufficient evidence of coordinated price manipulation.

Valero's renewable diesel business has drawn scrutiny from environmental groups who question whether renewable diesel from animal fats and used cooking oil provides meaningful climate benefits compared to fossil diesel. The company and its supporters argue that renewable diesel reduces lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 80 percent compared to conventional diesel, based on California Air Resources Board lifecycle analysis.

The company's processing of Venezuelan crude in 2026 has drawn attention from policy observers, as the crude supply is linked to the Venezuelan government. Valero has stated that its purchases comply with all applicable U.S. sanctions and trade regulations.