Valero Energy Corp., the third-largest U.S. refiner, will convert Diamond Shamrock gasoline stations to the company’s namesake brand to increase recognition of its name.
The company will convert 194 stores in Colorado. A handful of stores that don’t meet the company’s “volume and image” requirements are being converted to the Shamrock and Beacon names.
Nationwide, the switch will cost about $70 million, San Antonio-based Valero said Thursday in a statement. Valero said it will rebrand 1,860 stations, 1,030 of which are company-operated, and will finish most of the work by the 2006 fourth quarter. More than 1,000 stations on the East and West coasts already carry the Valero brand, spokeswoman Mary Rose Brown said.
Valero has expanded fuel output through acquisitions and agreed in April to buy Premcor Inc. That deal will make Valero the largest U.S. refiner, surpassing ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil Corp. Valero’s bigger-name rivals also produce oil, natural gas and chemicals around the world.
Exxon Mobil is almost five times as big as Valero by overall sales.
“With Valero’s growth in recent years, we’ve become one of the nation’s leading refiners and one of the top 25 companies among the Fortune 500, so it was a logical next step to roll out the Valero brand nationwide,” chief executive Bill Greehey said.
Shares of Valero rose 19 cents to $79.11 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock has jumped 74 percent this year, the top performer of the Standard & Poor’s 500 index.
Staff writer Kristi Arellano contributed to this report.
