Valero announced that it plans to close the 235,000 barrel per day refinery by July 2009. Management decided to close the Aruba refinery in response to lower refining margins and weak demand for gasoline and diesel.
The price difference between the sour Maya crude oil and the sweet West Texas Intermediate was $4 per barrel in March 2009. In the fourth quarter of 2008, the price difference was $14 per barrel.
VeraSun accepted Valero Energy's renewable energy division's bid of $477 million plus working capital for ethanol-producing plants.
Many analysts are predicting that diesel, which traded at prices higher than those gasoline in 2008, has the potential to fall below the price of gasoline by April 2009. For the first two months of 2009, diesel has dropped 13% in price. Falling deisel prices are capable of significantly hurt ing Valero's profits. The company spent billions in 2008 and early 2009 in order to increase its diesel production.
Valero agreed to buy a group of ethanol plants for $280 million from ethanol producer Vera Sun. Owning these plants will make Valero one of two U.S. refiners that can produce and sell their own ethanol and biofuel products.
Shares fall as Valero warns that the high-crude-price environment will cause the company to have lower-than-expected refining margins.
Valero's board approves a $2.4 billion expansion of the company's Port Arthur refinery, to a capacity of 415,000 bpd. The board also approved a $3 billion share buyback program.
02/22/07 – 02/23/07: On February 23, 2007, the share price of Valero Energy rose from USD 55.56 to USD 59.00 as Valero Energy Corporation declared that partial production at its McKee oil refinery in Sunray, Texas (which was damaged by fire on February 16, 2007) may resume once repairs are completed in April 2007.
