Honest, paywall-free news is rare. Please support our boldly independent journalism with a donation of any size.
Valero Energy Corporation, a top U.S. refiner and one of the main backers of the failed effort to kill California’s climate laws, is poised to produce Keystone XL tar sands fuel for tax-free export to foreign markets. “The company that appears positioned to receive and refine more of TransCanada’s crude than anyone else is the Valero Energy Corporation,” DeSmogBlog reports:
Valero is publicly “dedicated” to the Keystone XL project, and their 310,000 barrels per day Port Arthur, Texas refinery would receive the Alberta-born crude. Valero has invested heavily to upgrade the Port Arthur plant to handle “heavy” “sour” crude (a.k.a. tar sands DilBit) for the past few years, anticipating the pipeline’s completion.
“The nation’s top refiner has locked in at least 20 percent of the pipeline’s capacity,” Oil Change International found, “and, because its refinery in Port Arthur is within a Foreign Trade Zone, the company will accomplish its export strategy tax free.”
“As far as I know, we’ve never said anything about exporting products to China, nor do we have plans to,” Valero spokesperson Bill Day told Platts EnergyWeek. Day’s statement is technically accurate — the company actually intends to export tar sands products like diesel and jet fuel tax-free to Europe, Mexico, and South America.
25 Years of Truthout: An important fundraising appeal
This September, Truthout is celebrating 25 years of publication. For over two decades, we have been a trusted source for fiercely independent journalism thanks to readers like you.
As we look to the next 25 years, we have launched a special fundraising campaign. Looking to a sustainable future for our publication, we have a fundraising goal of $92,000 in the next 8 days.
We are asking for your support at this juncture because we face greater threats than ever before in our organizational history. Trump and his MAGA allies are determined to control the information ecosystem, and movement-based organizations are subject to dangerous censorship and scrutiny.
If you can support Truthout with a one-time or monthly donation, you will make a significant impact on our work and our legacy. Anything you can do makes a difference!