Valero Energy Corporation

Greetings. Welcome to Valero Energy Corp's second quarter 2024 earnings call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. Please note this conference is being recorded. I will now turn the conference over to Homer Beller. Vice President, Investor Relations, and Finance. Thank you. You may begin.

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Valero Energy Corporation's second quarter 2024 earnings conference call. With me today are Lane Riggs, our CEO and President, Jason Frazier, our Executive Vice President and CFO, Gary Simmons, our Executive Vice President and COO, and several other members of Valero's senior management team. If you have not received the earnings release and would like a copy, you can find one on our website at InvestorValero.com. Also, attached to the earnings release are tables that provide additional financial information on our business segments and reconciliations and disclosures for adjusted financial metrics mentioned on this call. If you have any questions after reviewing these tables, please feel free to contact our investor relations team after the call. I would now like to direct your attention to the forward-looking statement disclaimer contained in the press release. In summary, it says that statements in the press release and on this conference call 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 under federal securities laws. There are many factors that could cause actual results to differ from our expectations. including those we've described in our earnings release and filings with the SEC. Now, I'll turn the call over to Lane for opening remarks.

Thank you, Homer, and good morning, everyone. We are happy to report strong financial results for the second quarter. Our refineries operated well and achieved 94 percent throughput capacity utilization. We saw continued strength in our U.S. wholesale system with sales exceeding one million barrels per day in the second quarter. We also saw a good contribution from our renewable diesel and ethanol segments. On the strategic front, our growth projects are progressing on schedule. The Diamond Green Diesel Sustainable Aviation Fuel Project in Port Arthur is still expected to be operational in the fourth quarter, at which point DGD is expected to become one of the largest manufacturers of SAF in the world. And we continue to pursue short cycle, high return optimization projects around our existing refining assets. On the financial side, we remain committed to shareholder returns with a year-to-date payout of 80 percent. And last week, we announced a quarterly cash dividend on our common stock of $1.07 per share. Looking ahead, limited announced capacity additions beyond 2025 should support long-term refining fundamentals. In closing, our team's simple strategy of pursuing excellence in operation, return-driven discipline on growth projects, and a demonstrated commitment to shareholder returns has underpinned our success and positions us well for the future. So with that, Homer, I'll hand the call back to you.