Fuels refinery

Valero Benicia Refinery

Valero Refining Company - California · Valero Energy Corporation · Benicia, CA

Idled PADD5 jet fuel asphalt

The refinery is idled and is not producing. Valero states a throughput capacity of 170,000 bpd; EIA records 145,000 barrels per calendar day, a different measurement basis. The Bay Area AQMD Title V permit limited crude to 180,000 barrels on any day and 165,000 bpd as an annual average, as stated in the City of Benicia's 2014 Draft EIR. All three figures are historical. On April 16, 2025 Valero reported that it had notified the California Energy Commission of its intent to idle, restructure or cease refining at Benicia by the end of April 2026, and recorded a combined $1.1 billion impairment on Benicia and Wilmington. On April 24, 2025 Valero confirmed it would cease refining operations, citing California's regulatory environment. On January 6, 2026 the Governor's Office reported Valero's updated plan: the refinery would idle, keep producing gasoline through April 2026, and Valero would then keep importing gasoline into Northern California. Valero's site states that full idling of all processing units was completed in April 2026. Valero says it is maintaining permits, keeping the plant in a safe condition and evaluating redevelopment while supplying Northern California through imports and other arrangements.

bpd crude capacity · EIA 2026: 145,000
pipelines it injects into · +1 same-city tariff origins: 0
delivery points reachable: 5
terminals on those points: 6
events on record: 4

Capability

Crude distillation 145,000 bpd operable, 145,000 operating (EIA-820, as of 2026-01-01). Downstream units below, barrels per calendar day.

Conversion — makes gasoline and diesel from heavier oil

Catalytic cracking (FCC)	72,000
Hydrocracking — distillate	32,400
Fluid coking	27,500

Upgrading

Catalytic reforming — high pressure	35,340
Vacuum distillation	85,500 sd

Treating — meets sulfur specs

Hydrotreating — diesel	15,000 sd
Hydrotreating — kerosene & jet	15,400 sd
Hydrotreating — gasoline	43,200 sd
Hydrotreating — naphtha / reformer feed	30,000 sd
Hydrotreating — heavy gas oil	39,000 sd
Hydrotreating — other distillate	5,000 sd

Production capacity

Alkylates · 17,100 Asphalt road oil · 9,000 Hydrogen mmcfd · 135 Isomerization isobutane · 4,200 Petcoke market · 6,800 Sulfur short tons day · 303

Crude slate

Mixed: California San Joaquin Valley crude by pipeline, and domestic and foreign waterborne crude, including Canadian grades, over the refinery's own wharf.

Crude in & products out

Direction	Mode	Route	Point / origin	Products	Source
crude in	pipeline	Crude pipeline from the San Joaquin Valley (pipeline not named) The City of Benicia's 2014 Draft EIR states that crude produced in California, primarily in the San Joaquin Valley, was delivered into the refinery by pipeline. The document does not name the pipeline or its operator.	California crude, primarily San Joaquin Valley	crude	source
crude in	marine	Valero Benicia Marine Oil Terminal (Carquinez Strait) Crude from the United States and abroad, including Canada, was delivered by vessel to Valero's own marine terminal on the Carquinez Strait and pumped to the refinery's crude tanks (2014 Draft EIR). The terminal was built in 1968 and unloaded about 31 million barrels in 2019 and about 33 million in 2020. NOAA Coast Pilot 7 lists receipt of crude oil at the wharf.	United States and foreign crude, including Canadian	crude	source
crude in	rail	UPRR crude-by-rail (Valero Crude by Rail project, proposed) The Valero Crude by Rail project was a proposal to receive up to 70,000 bpd of crude by tank car. The 2014 Draft EIR states that the refinery then received crude only by pipeline and marine vessel and had no unloading rail spurs. No document shows the unloading facility was built.	North American crude (proposed)	crude	source
products out	pipeline	Kinder Morgan SFPP Benicia is an origin point in SFPP's intrastate tariff Cal PUC No. 161, effective July 1, 2026, priced jointly with Richmond to Oakland, Oakland International Airport, Brisbane and San Francisco International Airport. Kinder Morgan's March 2025 Pacific Operations brochure shows Valero feeding Concord Station and Amorco Station in its Bay Area and North Lines gathering diagram. The brochure says the Concord and Richmond gathering systems connect refineries and third-party terminals to destinations in the Bay Area, northern and central California, and Reno, Nevada.	Benicia origin point. Gathering lines run from the refinery to SFPP Concord Station and to Amorco Station, which connects to Richmond Station.	gasoline distillate jet fuel	source
products out	marine	Valero Benicia Marine Oil Terminal (Carquinez Strait) The wharf that received crude also loaded and unloaded petroleum products by tanker and barge. It was mainly a receiving dock: it loaded 3.2 million barrels and unloaded 30.9 million in 2019, and loaded 2.8 million and unloaded 32.6 million in 2020.		gasoline distillate jet fuel	source
products out	rail	Union Pacific Railroad The 2014 Draft EIR states that the Union Pacific line gives rail access to the refinery, which used rail to ship asphalt, petroleum coke and LPG and to bring in refining chemicals. Up to 12 railcars of petroleum coke a day left on Track 700 across Park Road to the neighbouring port terminal for loading to ships. The refinery tracks served the coke silo and LPG transfers.		asphalt petroleum coke lpg	source
products out	truck rack	Valero Refining Company - California truck rack (IRS terminal T-68-CA-4603) The IRS active fuel terminals list dated August 30, 2026 carries T-68-CA-4603, Valero Refining Company - Benicia, 3410 East Second Street, Benicia. Valero's specialty products page states that asphalt is marketed from its refineries and terminals by barge, rail and truck.		gasoline distillate asphalt	source

Docks

The docks at this facility and, where a ship agent or port publishes it, the largest vessel each berth takes. Channel conditions change; these figures are a guide, not clearance to sail.

Valero Benicia Marine Oil Terminal (Valero-Benicia Refinery wharf) · crude in, products out

Owned and operated by Valero Energy Corporation. Built in 1968 on the north shore of the Carquinez Strait.
California State Lands Commission marine oil terminal 83, berth 83-1.
Coast Pilot: 1,100 feet of berthing space, 40.4 feet alongside, deck height 15 feet. Receipt and shipment of petroleum products and receipt of crude oil.
The berth is maintained to about 40 feet at MLLW. The largest design vessel in the 2022 Moffatt & Nichol study is a tanker of up to 211,470 DWT, 987 feet long and 166 feet in beam, arriving at 38.0 feet. This is a study design vessel, not a published port limit.
2019: 3.2 million barrels loaded, 30.9 million unloaded, 192 calls (92 barge, 100 tanker). 2020: 2.8 million loaded, 32.6 million unloaded, 147 calls (54 barge, 93 tanker).

Source: NOAA Coast Pilot 7 ; Moffatt & Nichol feasibility study for the Valero Benicia terminal (filed with CARB) ; California State Lands Commission marine oil terminals layer, read 2026-10-11.

Pipeline reach

Pipeline	Injects at	Delivery points	Terminals	Lowest ¢/bbl	Median ¢/bbl
Kinder Morgan SFPP	Benicia same city	5	6	32.36	33.50

Substitutes

Other refineries injecting into the same pipelines — the supply that could backfill an outage here.

Kinder Morgan SFPP

Tesoro Refining & Marketing CO · Carson, CA 365,000 bpd
Chevron USA INC · El Segundo, CA 285,000 bpd
Chevron USA INC · Richmond, CA 245,271 bpd
Torrance Refining CO LLC · Torrance, CA 160,000 bpd
Martinez Refining CO LLC · Martinez, CA 156,400 bpd
Western Refining Company LP · El Paso, TX 133,000 bpd
Ultramar INC · Wilmington Refinery, CA 85,000 bpd

Events

2026-04 closure
Full idling of all processing units at the Benicia refinery completed, per Valero's own site. source
2026-01-06 closure
The Governor's Office reported Valero's updated plan for Benicia: idle the refinery, keep producing gasoline through April 2026, then keep importing gasoline into Northern California once the refinery is fully idle. source
2025-04-24 closure
Valero confirmed it would cease refining operations at Benicia, citing California's regulatory/enforcement environment and declining fuel-supply/high-gasoline-price concerns. source
2025-04-16 closure
Valero notified the California Energy Commission of intent to idle, restructure, or cease refining operations at Benicia by end of April 2026; recorded a combined $1.1B pre-tax impairment on Benicia and Wilmington. source

Rates are pipeline line-haul transcribed from published FERC tariffs; every figure cites its tariff and item. Cost to serve (netback) adds origin spot price and destination fees. "Confirmed" links match a tariff delivery point to the facility; "same city" means the point is in the facility's city — plausible, not proof; "per research" means the facility's research profile names the pipeline as an outlet.