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Valero Energy Corporation Announces $2 Billion Common Stock Purchase Program

Posted on: Monday, 23 October 2006, 09:01 CDT

Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) announced today that its board of directors has approved a $2 billion common stock purchase program. This new authorization is in addition to the company's existing authorization to purchase shares to offset dilution created by employee stock incentive programs.

Year to date, the company has purchased approximately 33 million shares for approximately $1.9 billion, which reduced shares outstanding by more than five percent.

"As a result of the strong cash flows, we have been able to return a significant amount of cash to our shareholders, reduce our debt levels, and invest in our assets," said Valero CEO Bill Klesse. "As we continue to purchase shares under the new authorization, we remain committed to enhancing shareholder value, maintaining a strong balance sheet, and improving our returns. Given that our shares continue to be undervalued, we believe purchasing shares represents an excellent use of our free cash flow."

Stock purchases will be made from time to time at prevailing prices as permitted by securities laws and other legal requirements, and are subject to market conditions and other factors. The program does not have a scheduled expiration date.

Valero Energy Corporation is a Fortune 500 company based in San Antonio, with approximately 22,000 employees and annual revenues of more than $80 billion. The company owns and operates 18 refineries throughout the United States, Canada and the Caribbean with a combined throughput capacity of approximately 3.3 million barrels per day, making it the largest refiner in North America. Valero is also one of the nation's largest retail operators with more than 5,000 retail and branded wholesale outlets in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean under various brand names including Valero, Diamond Shamrock, Shamrock, Ultramar, and Beacon. Please visit www.valero.com for more information.

Statements contained in this release that state the company's or management's expectations or predictions of the future are forward-looking statements intended to be covered by the safe harbor provisions of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The words "believe,""expect,""should,""estimates," and other similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. It is important to note that actual results could differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements. For more information concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed or forecasted, see Valero's annual reports on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and on Valero's website at www.valero.com.

Source: Business Wire

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