Valero Dismisses Restarting Benicia Refinery


   
Daniel Rodriguez Huerta
DTN Refined Fuels Market Reporter

   CALGARY, CANADA (DTN) -- Valero Energy has no plans to restart its idled 
170,000 bpd Benicia refinery in California, executives said Thursday (10/22) on 
the company's third-quarter 2026 earnings call.

   General Counsel Rich Walsh said the refinery has been safely idled since 
April. Talks with state and federal officials and private parties before the 
shutdown produced no deal, he said, calling the West Coast a "tough environment 
to operate in."

   Restarting would require re-inventorying, restaffing and an extensive 
turnaround, Walsh said. 

   CEO Lane Riggs said any shuttered refinery would take time to restart and 
could not ease the prompt supply situation.

   Valero has received little inbound from the Trump administration on 
reopening idled capacity, he added.

   California has lost refining capacity in recent years with the most recent 
closures of Benicia in April and Phillips 66's 139,000 bpd Los Angeles refinery 
in October 2025. The state has 1.34 million bpd of crude oil refining capacity, 
according to the California Energy Commission (CEC). In comparison, US overall 
refining capacity sat at 18.04 million bpd in July, down from 18.34 million 
bpd, EIA data shows. 

   California has no pipeline access to Gulf Coast supply and relies on 
imports, bringing in about 165,000 bpd of gasoline and blendstock in 2025, the 
CEC said. The war with Iran cut Middle East cargoes that normally supply the 
West Coast. Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates supplied 28.73% of 
California's foreign crude imports in 2025, CEC data show.

   Valero guided fourth-quarter West Coast throughput at 100,000-110,000 bpd. 
Its only other West Coast plant is the 135,000 bpd Wilmington refinery in 
California. 

   Randy Blank, senior vice president of crude and feedstock supply, said 
higher freight costs expose the company's West Coast system, though Gulf Coast 
benefits outweigh them. Time-chartered vessels buffer some of the impact of 
higher spot rates, he said.




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