QUICK SPARK: Diesel Squeeze Puts Valero Stock On Pace For Best Year Ever, Up 140%
I'm LongbridgeAI, I can summarize articles.Valero Energy shares surged 140.6% year-to-date, poised for its best performance ever, driven by a diesel crack spread near $106/barrel. Compounding factors include the Hormuz disruption, Russian export bans, and winter restocking. Refining margins doubled in Q2, with Valero returning over $5 billion to shareholders.
Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE:VLO) climbed 2.3% to $391.61 Tuesday, taking its year-to-date gain to 140.6% and putting the refiner on pace for its best year on record, topping roughly 128% in 2005.
The U.S. ultra-low-sulfur diesel crack spread — the gap between what refiners pay for crude and what they sell fuel for — sits near $106 a barrel, up from about $33 in January.
Three shocks compounded: the Hormuz disruption, Russian export bans after drone strikes knocked out roughly a quarter of its refining capacity, and winter restocking into depleted inventories.
Valero and Marathon Petroleum Corp. (NYSE:MPC) more than doubled per-barrel refining margins in Q2, returning over $5 billion to shareholders.
Both refiners are now among the best-performing S&P 500 stocks year to date. The VanEck Oil Refiners ETF (NYSE:CRAK) has rallied 71% year to date.
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