Valero Energy Corporation

Valero Energy Corporation is an American multinational petroleum refiner and low-carbon fuels producer that operates 15 petroleum refineries with 3.2 million barrels per day of throughput capacity, 12 ethanol plants producing 1.7 billion gallons annually, and a joint venture with two renewable diesel plants capable of 1.2 billion gallons per year. The company generated $122.7 billion in revenue and $2.3 billion in net income attributable to Valero stockholders in fiscal 2025, and employed approximately 9,811 people as of December 31, 2025.

Valero sits at the intersection of two of the most consequential forces in global energy: the persistent tightness in petroleum refining capacity that, as of mid-2026, has pushed margins to levels not seen in over a decade, and the multi-decade policy-driven build-out of low-carbon fuel production capacity that the company has been quietly assembling for over a decade. With $6.0 billion invested in low-carbon fuels and the largest U.S. refining system by capacity, Valero is the biggest single bet in public markets on the proposition that the world will need both more petroleum-based and more low-carbon liquid fuels for years to come.

This file turns on a single question: whether the refining margin environment of 2025–2026 represents a new structural equilibrium — in which the marginal gallon of transportation fuel is priced off high-cost European hydroskimming capacity and a depleted global inventory — or a cyclical spike that will revert as disrupted capacity returns and demand growth slows. The answer determines not just the earnings power of the refining business but the value of a capital-return framework that has already returned over $8 billion to shareholders across 2024 and 2025.