While Valero’s history is still unfolding, the following highlights represent some of the company’s most important milestones.

1980
On Jan. 1, 1980, Valero was born as the corporate successor to LoVaca Gathering Company, a natural gas gathering subsidiary of the Coastal States Gas Corporation. The company’s formation was far from a smooth one. LoVaca and Coastal had contracts to supply natural gas to utilities around Texas. Due to the natural gas shortage in the 1970s, LoVaca was unable to honor its contracts. After more than six years of litigation, a $1.6 billion settlement was reached, which included the formation of Valero as a new company, separate from Coastal. At that time, it was the largest corporate spinoff in U.S. history.

Based in San Antonio, Texas, Valero derives its name from that city's most famous landmark, the Alamo. Founded in 1718, the Alamo was originally called Mission San Antonio de Valero.

1981
In the early 1980s, Valero began to expand into other areas of the energy sector, initially acquiring an interest in a small crude refining operation in Corpus Christi, Texas. The company foresaw growing worldwide environmental concerns and invested more than $1 billion into the refining unit. The investment made the refinery, now named the Bill Greehey refinery, a state-of-the-art facility, producing clean-burning fuels from low-cost, bottom-of-the-barrel feedstocks.

1984
The Bill Greehey Refinery (Corpus Christi) was commissioned and placed into service. Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, Valero continued to grow as a diversified energy company, operating in refining and marketing and natural gas-related services.

1997
Valero announced an agreement to merge its natural gas-related services with PG&E Corporation. In conjunction with this merger, the company spun off its refining and marketing operations as a new independent company, retaining the Valero name. In the same year, the company acquired Basis Petroleum, Inc. making Valero the largest independent refining and marketing company on the Gulf Coast. The company now owned four refineries in Texas and Louisiana and had a 530,000 barrel-per-day (BPD) total throughput capacity.

1998
Valero acquired Mobil’s Paulsboro refinery, making Valero the nation’s second-largest independent refining company with a total throughput capacity of approximately 735,000 BPD. The acquisition also provided the company with geographic diversity and access to Northeastern markets.

2000
Valero entered the West Coast market when it acquired ExxonMobil Corporation’s Benicia, Calif., refinery, located near San Francisco, its 270-store retail distribution chain and 80 company-operated retail sites.
The Benicia refinery, which has a throughput capacity of 165,000 BPD, is considered one of the most complex refineries in the nation and produces 10 percent of the CARB gasoline used in California. This acquisition also marked the company’s entry into the retail business when it debuted the Valero retail brand.

2001
In June 2001, Valero executed lease agreements with purchase options for a 115,000 BPD refinery in Corpus Christi and refined product pipelines and terminals in Texas, which were owned and operated by subsidiaries of El Paso Corporation.

During that same month, Valero acquired Huntway Refining Company, which has two asphalt refineries on the West Coast – one in Benicia, Calif., and one in Wilmington, Calif. – near the company’s fuel refineries.

And on Dec. 31, Valero completed its largest transaction when the company merged with San Antonio-based Ultramar Diamond Shamrock Corporation. With this acquisition — which was completed in seven months and without any layoffs — Valero became one of the nation’s top three refining and marketing companies.

2002
The company now has a market capitalization of $4.5 billion and employs approximately 20,000 employees. Its 2-million-BPD refining system is generally comprised of high-conversion facilities that produce premium, clean-burning fuels. With a network that stretches from Canada and the U.S. East Coast to the Gulf Coast and West Coast, Valero now has one of the most geographically diverse refining systems among U.S. refiners. In addition, the acquisition makes Valero a major retailer with about 4,100 retail sites in the United States and Canada – the majority of which are branded Valero, Diamond Shamrock, Ultramar, Total and Beacon. With the Dec. 31 acquisition, Valero L.P. was born as the purchase included an extensive, 3,600-mile proprietary pipeline network, formerly named Shamrock Logistics L.P. These transactions helped make Valero an extremely competitive company with one of the best U.S. refining systems, a strong retail presence, a growing mid-stream logistics business and the best workforce in the industry. Now, Valero is poised to take advantage of significant synergies and other opportunities for growth.

2003
Valero acquired Orion Refining Corporation's Louisiana refinery in July 2003. The refinery is located adjacent to the Mississippi River in St. Charles Parish, approximately 15 miles west of New Orleans. This was a key addition to Valero's refining network because the facility is one of the most complex refineries in the nation, yet still has tremendous upgrade potential, so Valero can significantly enhance the plant’s profitability and performance with minimal capital investment.

2004
On March 5th, Valero acquired El Paso Corporation's 315,000 barrel-per-day (BPD) refinery in Aruba and related marine, bunkering and marketing operations. With its excellent logistics and production capabilities, this refinery further strengthens Valero's geographic diversity. The refinery processes heavy, sour crude oil, which sells at a big discount to sweet crude oil, making it a great complement to Valero's refining network. And, it produces a high yield of valuable intermediate feedstocks that can be used to back out third-party purchases at Valero's other refineries, providing a substantial economic benefit to the company's refining system. With this new addition, Valero now has 15 refineries with a total throughput capacity of 2.4 million BPD.

2005
A milestone year of growth, 2005 is the year that Valero became the largest North American refiner and Valero L.P. decided to “go global.”

On September 1, 2005, Valero acquired Premcor Inc. in an $8 billion transaction – one of the largest and most strategic acquisitions in the company’s history. After adding Premcor’s four refineries in Port Arthur, Texas; Memphis, Tennessee; Delaware City, Delaware; and Lima, Ohio, Valero has18 refineries and a total throughput capacity of approximately 3.3 million barrels per day (BPD). The company has total assets of $33 billion and annual revenues of nearly $75 billion, which would rank the company No. 15 on the current listing of the Fortune 500.

In addition, on July 1, 2005, Valero L.P. successfully acquired Kaneb Pipe Line Partners, L.P. in a nearly $2.7 billion transaction. By the end of 2005, Valero L.P. was one of the largest terminal and petroleum liquids pipeline operators in the United States. As of Dec. 31, 2005, the partnership had 9,186 miles of pipelines, 89 terminals, and bulk storage facilities strategically located in major U.S. markets and in the Netherlands Antilles, Canada, Mexico, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

2006

On Jan. 1, Bill Klesse was named the Chief Executive Officer of Valero Energy Corporation and Vice Chairman of the Valero Board of Directors.



In August, Valero became the No. 1 rack fuel marketer in Texas with a total of 1,900 branded wholesale and company-owned locations and significant unbranded sales volumes around the state. This growth occurred when Valero signed an 11-year agreement with Susser Petroleum -- the largest single branded wholesale deal in Valero history in terms of both fuel volumes and number of sites -- to supply fuel and brand programs to over 300 of Susser's network of 324 retail stores in Texas and Oklahoma. Valero also began branding selected sites from Susser's network of 352 wholesale dealers.



In December, Valero completed sale of its ownership interest in Valero GP Holdings, LLC, successfully spinning off Valero L.P. and its general partner, Valero GP Holdings. By making the companies independent, both Valero Energy and Valero L.P. were in a good position to continue growing,



2007

Bill Klesse was elected Chairman of the Valero Board of Directors on Jan. 19.

Valero continues to earn industry awards and accolades.

Valero is North America's largest refiner and one of the nation's largest retailers. The company leads in shareholder value growth through innovative, efficient upgrading of low-cost feedstocks into high-value, high-quality products.

Valero is committed to:

The safety of our employees and our operations as a core business value.
Producing environmentally clean products in environmentally clean facilities.
Aggressively pursuing growth opportunities, both domestically and internationally.
Continued development of all employees, our number-one asset.
Providing a challenging, rewarding environment that facilitates creative thinking, teamwork and open communications.
Customer satisfaction by providing reliable and responsive products and services.
Ensuring a positive retail experience for consumers by focusing on convenience, value and quality service.
Taking a leadership role in our communities by providing company support and encouraging employee involvement.

Valero's commitment to its employees, environment and communities not only has made it a better neighbor, it has made the company a better refiner. Valero’s corporate record goes far beyond its leadership in producing clean-burning fuels – it reflects a vision from management and dedication by employees to set standards in every area of business. As a result, the company has been recognized as a top-performing public company, honored as an industry leader, ranked as a top employer, and lauded for its commitment to community service. Thanks to its employees, Valero's list of awards and honors is long and growing every year.

Record Recognition for Valero

Ranked No. 1 on Fortune Magazine's listing of the nation's "Best Big Companies to Work For.” Valero is the only refining company to make this list.
Ranked No. 1 among the world's refining and marketing companies in the 2006 and 2005 Platts Top 250 Global Energy Company Awards
Ranked No. 22 among the nation's best employers on Fortune Magazine’s listing of the “100 Best Companies to Work for” and No. 6 among large employers.
Ranked on Forbes 2006 Platinum 400 list of America's Best Big Companies. This is the sixth year that Forbes recognized Valero for its outstanding stock performance.
Named 2006 Convenience Store Chain of the Year by Convenience Store Decisions magazine, a widely read retail industry trade publication.
Ranked No. 4 on the list of the 2005 "BusinessWeek 50," which ranks the 50 best-performing companies on the S&P 500 based on sales and earnings growth, net profit margins, return on equity and total shareholder return
Named one of Fortune Magazine's Blue Ribbon Companies for 2005
Included in IndustryWeek magazine's 2005 list of the 50 Best U.S. Manufacturers
Ultramar Ltd., Valero's Canadian arm, ranked 23rd on the list of the 50 Best Employers in Canada for 2006. It was also the top-ranked company in the province of Quebec.
Consistently named to Hispanic Magazine's "Corporate 100" list, an honor which recognizes the top 100 companies across the country that have raised the bar when it comes to employing, working with and serving Hispanic Americans
Added to the S&P 500 Index in 2004 for being the “best of the best” among all of the public companies in the U.S. and a leader in the refining industry
Ranked No. 6 among oil companies on Fortune Magazine's listing of America’s Most Admired Companies and No. 8 among oil companies in Fortune’s Global Most Admired Companies
Ranked 19th on Fortune Magazine list of 100 Fastest-Growing Companies and listed among the Global 500
Moved up to No. 15 from No. 22 on the Fortune 500 ranking for 2005.
Ranked No. 3 on Investor’s Business Daily list of “Big Cap 20” based on earnings growth.
Ranked 4th on Forbes’ 2004 list of America’s fastest-growing big companies (based on revenue growth) and named one of America's Best-Managed Companies in Forbes Jan. 10 edition
Received “2004 Spirit of America Award,” the United Way’s highest corporate honor given to one U.S. company each year (Valero is only the second company to have won this award twice)
Only company out of the “100 Best Companies to Work for” to receive the 2004 Pride Award for the special pride among Valero employees
Received United Way’s “Texans Helping Texans” Award – 2003 (the United Way’s Highest Statewide Award)
Recognized with U.S. Department of Labor “Exemplary Voluntary Efforts” (EVE) Award for exemplary and innovative equal employment opportunity programs (one of just five companies honored) – 2002
Honored with Texas Governor’s Volunteer Award – 2002
Ranked 15th among the Fortune 500 companies in terms of corporate giving by Worth Magazine – 2000
Chosen as one of the World’s 100 Best-Managed Companies by IndustryWeek Magazine, which evaluated 1,000 of the world's largest publicly held manufacturing companies - 2000
Received Points of Light Foundation Excellence in Corporate Community Service Award (one of just nine U.S. companies honored) – 1999

Shared Commitment to People
Valero is a special place to work. At Valero, we believe in creating a work environment of mutual trust, equal respect and appreciation for diversity. Employees at Valero gain help in developing their capabilities and are recognized and competitively rewarded for their performance. We believe that all employees at Valero have a right to offer input and be involved in helping their team grow. Creating a work environment in which employees can improve their minds, continuously learn, gain professional growth and feel inspired by similarly motivated individuals is fundamental at Valero. In turn, we expect that employees share Valero’s vision for company, team and individual growth and that employees will strive to make a difference every day. This exemplifies Valero’s commitment to people.

Community Involvement
At Valero, community involvement is an integral part of the corporate culture – from our organized Valero Volunteer Councils to our financial support of countless community organizations. This commitment dates back to Valero’s beginnings when the company’s top management made community involvement a key part of our mission statement. Through our work over the years, Valero has touched thousands of lives, helped hundreds of nonprofit groups and positively impacted countless communities.

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Success Stories
Glenn Dodson
Then: 1991 - began as a CSR, Diamond Shamrock, San Antonio, Texas.
Now: Senior Business Analyst, Information Technology Department, San Antonio.

"Working as a CSR provided me the opportunity to work for the company and access jobs as an internal candidate. I was more than willing to put myself in a position to be promoted from within the company."

Promotions:

• 1992: Supervisor of Pc Operations for North American InTeleCom, Inc., a UDS subsidiary
  
• 1996: Affiliate Business Analyst, Information Technology (IT) Department, San Antonio
  
• 1998: Business Analyst, (IT)
  
• 1999: Senior Business Analyst, (IT)
  
• 2002: Technical Specialist, (IS)

Richard Siu
Then: 1990 - Began as CSR, Diamond Shamrock Store
Now: Internal Auditor, Internal Audit Services, San Antonio

"When I started as a CSR, I didn't realize all of the great opportunities that this company had in store for me. But, I discovered the long-term possibilities early on, and I'm glad I stuck with the company. I enjoy working here."

Promotions:

• 1993: (summer) Store Manager - (fall) Retail Auditor
  
• 1994: Assistant Store Manager - Area Manager Trainee in Dallas

Now: Internal Auditor, Internal Audit Services

At Valero, we're really energized about the future. We're one of the nation's premier refining and marketing companies with a 2-million-barrel-a-day refining system, a 4,100-store retail network and a growing mid-stream logistics business. Today, Valero is a stronger company, a more stable investment, a better employer and a more generous community partner. In fact, we have so much positive energy--we can take you just about anywhere!

The best word to describe Valero’s culture is PRIDE. Pride in our company. Pride in our jobs. And pride in our communities.

That pride contributes to the fact that employees at Valero are happy and like working for Valero. Furthermore, Valero’s mission statement emphasizes that employees are our number-one asset. That is why we strive to provide our employees with the best compensation and benefits in the industry. Employees at Valero appreciate challenging responsibilities, the best benefits in the industry, a diverse working environment, and many opportunities to give back to their communities. If you are an exceptional, motivated individual with a desire for an opportunity to grow, be challenged, and make a difference, we invite you to take a close look at what Valero has to offer.