Valero Benicia Refinery
Valero Refining Company - California · Valero Energy Corporation · Benicia, CA
170,000-bpd throughput capacity (Valero); EIA-820 records 145,000 bcd (different measurement basis). On April 16, 2025 Valero notified the California Energy Commission of intent to idle/restructure/cease refining by end of April 2026, following a $1.1B combined impairment (with Wilmington) recorded in Q1 2025; on April 24, 2025 Valero confirmed it would cease refining operations, citing California's regulatory/enforcement environment. A January 2026 update softened full closure to an idling plan: processing units began idling in Q1 2026, and per Valero's own site, 'full idling of all processing units was completed in April 2026.' As of the retrieval date, the refinery is idled (not producing), with Valero maintaining permits/safe condition and evaluating redevelopment while supplying Northern California via imports and alternative arrangements.
- bpd crude capacity · EIA 2026
- 145,000
- pipelines it injects into
- 1
- 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
Crude slate
Mixed: California San Joaquin Valley crude (pipeline), domestic and imported waterborne crude including Canadian grades (marine), supplemented historically by crude-by-rail.
Crude in & products out
| Direction | Mode | Route | Point / origin | Products | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| crude in | pipeline | Unnamed intrastate crude pipeline(s) from San Joaquin Valley Refinery project-description filing states California-produced crude (primarily San Joaquin Valley) is delivered to the refinery by pipeline; no specific named trunk-line operator identified in sources reviewed. |
California crude, primarily San Joaquin Valley | crude | source |
| crude in | marine | Valero Marine Terminal, Port of Benicia (Carquinez Strait) Crude oils from the US and abroad (including Canada) are delivered by marine vessel to Valero's own marine terminal on the Carquinez Strait, built 1968, then pumped to onsite crude storage tanks. Confirms the graph's Carquinez Strait / Suisun Bay marine terminal edge. |
US and international crude, including Canadian | crude | source |
| crude in | rail | UPRR crude-by-rail (Valero Crude by Rail project) A 2013 CEQA filing describes a Valero project to receive up to 70,000 bpd of crude by rail, replacing an equivalent marine-vessel volume; 2024 reporting references at least one historical shipload of Canadian crude received this way. Current (2026) rail utilization not confirmed. |
North American-sourced crude (incl. Canadian tar sands, per 2024 reporting of a 2013-era cargo) | crude | source |
| products out | pipeline | Kinder Morgan SFPP (North Line) Kinder Morgan describes its SFPP North Line as running from refineries in Richmond and Concord, California, fed generally by 'refineries in the San Francisco Bay Area, various pipelines and marine terminals.' This supports Bay Area refineries broadly feeding SFPP, but sources reviewed do not explicitly name Benicia as a North Line injection point. |
Not confirmed as Benicia specifically | gasoline distillate | source |
| products out | marine | Valero Marine Terminal, Port of Benicia Same marine terminal used for crude receipt also handles refined-product/feedstock deliveries and exports via vessel and barge. |
gasoline distillate jet fuel | source | |
| products out | rail | UPRR rail (product export) Refinery uses the existing UPRR line to export asphalt, petroleum coke and LPG (and to import refining chemicals). |
asphalt petcoke lpg | source | |
| products out | truck rack | Valero Benicia Refinery truck rack Refinery produced CARBOB gasoline, diesel, CARB diesel, jet fuel and asphalt, supplying ~10% of California's CARBOB gasoline and ~45% of Northern California's asphalt; Valero's specialty-products page states asphalt is marketed from its refineries and terminals 'by barge, rail and truck,' consistent with an onsite asphalt/fuels truck rack, though a refinery-specific rack was not separately documented. |
gasoline distillate asphalt | source |
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
closure
Valero updated its plan from potential full closure to a phased idling, continuing to evaluate strategic/redevelopment options; Governor Newsom called this a 'constructive development' compared to the earlier full-closure/market-exit scenario. 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.