Lane Riggs

Valero converts crude oil into gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and petrochemical feedstocks. Valero has strategically invested in renewable fuels through its Diamond Green Diesel joint venture with Darling Ingredients, making it the second-largest renewable diesel producer in the United States. Renewable diesel is chemically identical to petroleum diesel but made from waste fats, oils, and greases — it qualifies for valuable renewable fuel credits and carbon offset incentives. Refining is a spread business — profitability depends on the "crack spread" between crude oil input costs and refined product selling prices, not on the absolute level of oil prices. Key stock drivers include refining crack spreads (gasoline and distillate margins), crude oil differentials (light-heavy, sweet-sour), refinery utilization rates, maintenance turnaround schedules, renewable diesel margins and production volumes, Renewable Identification Number (RIN) prices, global refined product demand, refining capacity closures that tighten supply, and export demand for U.S. refined products.