Top Gas Utility Companies To Invest In Right Now

Top Gas Utility Companies To Invest In Right Now: Valero Energy Corporation(VLO)

Valero Energy Corporation operates as an independent petroleum refining and marketing company. The company operates through three segments: Refining, Ethanol, and Retail. The Refining segment engages in refining, wholesale marketing, product supply and distribution, and transportation operations. It produces conventional gasoline, distillates, jet fuel, asphalt, petrochemicals, lubricants, and other refined products. This segment also offers conventional blendstock for oxygenate blending, reformulated gasoline blendstock for oxygenate blending, gasoline meeting the specifications of the California Air Resources Board (CARB), CARB diesel fuel, low-sulfur and ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel. The Ethanol segment produces ethanol and distillers grains. The Retail segment sells transportation fuels at retail stores and unattended self-service cardlocks; convenience store merchandise and services in retail stores; and home heating oil to residential customers. Valero Energy Corpora tion markets its refined products through bulk and rack marketing network; and sells refined products through a network of approximately 6,800 retail and wholesale branded outlets under the Valero, Diamond Shamrock, Shamrock, Ultramar, Beacon, and Texaco names in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Aruba, and Ireland. As of December 31, 2011, it owned 16 petroleum refineries with a combined throughput capacity of approximately 3.0 million barrels per day; and operated 10 ethanol plants with a combined nameplate production capacity of approximately 1.1 billion gallons per year. The company was formerly known as Valero Refining and Marketing Company and changed its name to Valero Energy Corporation in August 1997. Valero Energy Corporation was founded in 1955 and is based in San Antonio, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• ! [By Ben Levisohn]

  Yesterday, refining stocks like Valero Energy (VLO), Marathon Petroleum (MPC), Tesoro (TSO) and PBF Energy (PBF) got hammered after the U.S. government said it would allow two oil companies to export ultra-light crude oil for the first time.

  The Washington Post/Getty Images

  Valero Energy, for instance, plunged 8.3%, while Marathon Petroleum slid 6.3%, PBF Energy plummeted 11% and Tesoro slipped. 4.2%.

  Cowen’s Sam Margolin and Jason Gabelman call the death of US refiners “greatly exaggerated.” They explain why:

  So as not to bury the lede, we do not see risk to our positive 12-18 month thesis for US refiners based on Pioneer Natural Resources’ (PXD) and Enterprise Products Partners’ (EPD) recently granted permits for condensate exports. Specifically, we do not see a step change in the current regulatory framework that bans blanket crude oil exports, since stabilized condensate is more akin to a refined product than an “unrefined oil”, as characterized by media reports. The spirit of the law, that hydrocarbon liquids produced in the US must be processed in the US, remains in place, and permits for condensate exports do not constitute precedent for crude oil in our view. Comments from US officials and even from Pioneer Natural Resources in the media indicate a similar conclusion We continue to see potential for a meaningful feedstock advantage for US refiners emerging later in 2014, with a crude supply inflection point of 9MM bpd of domestic production again st a Gulf Coast import baseline in the 2.8-3.0MM bpd range.

  We maintain our Outperform ratings on Valero Energy, Western Refining (WNR), Marathon Petroleum , Tesoro, and PBF Energy…

  Ned Davis Research’s Warren Pies and John LaForge disagree:

  This export news is potentially game changing for Refiners.

  This minor "tweak" of the law could free up a lot of oil for export – oil that is currently stuck

• ! [By I! gor Greenwald]

  The leading US Gulf Coast refiners have been big winners in The Energy Strategist portfolios, with Marathon Petroleum (NYSE: MPC) up 27 percent since our Oct. 24 upgrade to a Buy, and Valero Energy (NYSE: VLO) returning 43 percent since the Buy recommendation on the same day.

source from Top Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksblog.com/top-gas-utility-companies-to-invest-in-right-now.html