Company:Valero Energy Corporation

Founder: Bill Greehey founded the corporation and molded it to become the United States’ largest refiner. From 1997 to 2005, he expanded Valero Energy from one refinery to eighteen. He also bolstered the company’s processing capacities to add more feasible, lower-quality crude, effectively maximizing financial feasibility as supplies waxed.

Industry: With a massive refining system that can produce 3.1 million barrels per day, Valero Energy Corporation is the largest refiner in the North American region. The company’s massive network spans from Canada to the United States Gulf Coast and West Coast and all the way to the Caribbean. It has a wide range of products. These include:

• Aviation gasoline
• Kerosene
• Lube base oils
• Sulfur
• Asphalt
• Petrochemicals
• Conventional Gasoline

History:

Valero Energy Corporation was founded on January 1, 1980. It succeeded the LoVaca Gathering Company, which was an affiliate company of Coastal States Gas Corporation.

Its name is derived from San Antonio, Texas’ prominent landmark, the Alamo, which was, in 1718, founded as the Mission San Antonio de Valero.

As early as the 80s, the company diversified and expanded its operations into other fields of the energy industry. They also grew aware of the mounting environmental concerns being raised up. Thus, Valero expediently invested more than $1 billion into its refinery, converting it into one that had cutting-edge technology that was able to produce eco-friendly fuel from mere cut-rate feedstocks.

In 1997, after having expanded further into an energy company with diverse products in the 80s-to-90s interim, the company merged its natural gas-related services with PG&E Corporation. It also absorbed Basis Petroleum, Inc., which has made it into the Gulf Coast’s most massive independent refining and marketing company.

In 1998, it acquired Mobil’s Paulsboro refinery. This acquisition increased the company’s throughput to 735,000 barrels per day, making it the second-largest independent refining company in the United States.

Valero Energy Corporation, with 21,836 employees, seventeen refineries, and a throughput of an estimated 3.3 million barrels per day, and making annual revenues of more than $90 billion, has now made it into the Fortune 500 list.

Leadership:

• Bill Greehey – Founder
• William Klesse – Chairman, President, and CEO
• Michael Ciskowski – EVP and CFO

Quotes:

Says Raul Munoz, ex-chief executive of Petroleos Mexicanos, “I got to meet leaders in the industry all over the world, and the one that impressed me the most by far was Bill Greehey.“

Bill Greehey quotes:

• “We’re excited to substantially grow our retail presence because retail margins are counter-cyclical to refining margins, so in the event we experience lower refining margins, retail margins will help stabilize our earnings.”
• “In October alone, we’ve already earned $2.30 a share, … we’re in good shape to have the best quarter in Valero’s history.”