Valero Energy Corporation and Tight Oil

Valero Energy, an incredibly successful US refiner, needs to make some decisions about tight oil. As production of light tight oil increases—from Eagle Ford, Bakken and elsewhere—Valero considers whether to add topping capacity to handle it, on top of its recent investments for heavy oil. Political decisions, however, are pending on Keystone XL, on crude oil exports, and on LNG exports. Prices, therefore, are up in the air, especially as global capacity increases. Petrochemical companies and oil producers have conflicting views on the appropriate policy. Bill Klesse, the CEO, can either sit back and wait, or move to capture greater market share.