Fitch rates Valero notes BBB

Fitch Ratings said it assigned a BBB rating to Valero Energy Corp.'s issuance of up to $1 billion of 10- and 30-year senior unsecured notes.

Valero has an issuer default rating, unsecured credit facility and senior unsecured debt of BBB.

The outlook is stable.

Proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes, including funding capital expenditures and working capital requirements, refinancing debt and potential acquisitions.

Ratings are supported by the company's size, scale and the geographic diversity of its portfolio of refineries, as well as its leverage to heavy and sour crude oil economics, the agency said.

Offsetting considerations are the length and severity of the down cycle in commodity prices and margins, Valero's ability to maintain financial flexibility if conditions deteriorate further, the recent compression of light-heavy oil spreads and the risk of a leveraging acquisition, Fitch said.

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