Valero admits lack of foresight on crude change; can't spot turning point yet

摘要

Valero Energy recorded a large loss in the second quarter and chief executive Bill Klesse acknowledged in a conference call that the refiner could lose money during the rest of 2009.rnKlesse also admitted that his management team didn't forecast the ongoing breakdown in sour crude discounts. Many of Valero's U.S. refining units were built to take advantage of huge discounts for heavy sour crude that prevailed earlier this decade. Example: spring 2008 saw Mexican Maya heavy sour crude sell for nearly $22/bbl beneath WTI futures. This year the second quarter discount was just $6.16/bbl. At presstime, the discount had narrowed further to less than $4/bbl.