Valero Energy Corp wants to sell its pair of California refineries and has brought in Citigroup to help shop them around to potential buyers, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing unnamed sources. Valero spokesman Bill Day declined comment on the issue. However, he noted that Valero Chief Executive Bill Klesse told analysts nearly a year ago that the company was considering options for the two plants in light of a 2006 California law that requires emissions to match 1990 levels by 2020, which could cost hundreds of millions of dollars in upgrades to achieve.That law requires the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to craft regulations to meet the law's emissions reduction requirement.During Valero's third-quarter 2011 conference call, an analyst asked if long-term viability of Valero's California refineries could be in question given the looming regulations."We're looking at our options," Klesse replied.
Valero Energy Corporation (Valero) is an independent petroleum refining and marketing company. Shares of VLO fell by 0.37% or $-0.11/share to $29.53. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $19.12 and as high as $34.36. On average, 9358480 shares of VLO exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 7133586.
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