Acquisition (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended			0 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		5 Months Ended			0 Months Ended	2 Months Ended	5 Months Ended					3 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2011 Variable Interest Entity, Primary Beneficiary [Member]	Aug. 01, 2011 Interest Percentage - Initial [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Interest Percentage - Addition [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Meraux Acquisition [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Meraux Acquisition [Member]	Oct. 02, 2011 Meraux Acquisition [Member]	Sep. 30, 2011 Meraux Acquisition [Member]	Aug. 01, 2011 Pembroke Acquisition [Member]	Sep. 30, 2011 Pembroke Acquisition [Member] Y	Dec. 31, 2011 Pembroke Acquisition [Member]	Jan. 31, 2010 ASA Acquisition [Member] plants	Dec. 31, 2009 ASA Acquisition [Member]	Feb. 28, 2010 Renew Acquisition [Member] plants	Dec. 31, 2009 Renew Acquisition [Member]	Jun. 30, 2010 VeraSun Acquisition [Member] plants	Jun. 30, 2009 VeraSun Acquisition [Member] plants
Fair Value of Acquisitions
Inventories						$ 219,000,000	$ 219,000,000
Current assets, net of cash acquired												2,214,000,000
Property, plant and equipment						320,000,000	320,000,000					804,000,000
Deferred charges and other assets, net						9,000,000	9,000,000					32,000,000
Intangible assets												23,000,000
Current liabilities, less current portion of debt and capital lease obligations												(1,287,000,000)
Debt and capital leases assumed, including current portion												(12,000,000)
Other long-term liabilities						(1,000,000)	(1,000,000)					(78,000,000)
Noncontrolling interests												(5,000,000)
Purchase price						547,000,000	547,000,000
Purchase price, net of cash acquired												1,691,000,000
Business Combination Pro Forma Information Actual
Operating revenues							1,343,000,000					7,522,000,000
Income (loss) from continuing operations							(74,000,000)					(10,000,000)
Acquisition related costs							2,000,000					27,000,000
Consolidated Pro Forma Information
Operating revenues	142,109,000,000	99,824,000,000
Income from continuing operations attributable to Valero stockholders	2,071,000,000	953,000,000
Earnings per common share from continuing operations - basic	$ 3.66	$ 1.68
Earnings per common share from continuing operations - assuming dilution	$ 3.64	$ 1.68
Acquisitions (Textual)
Effective date of acquisition	October 1, 2011									August 1, 2011
Purchase price						547,000,000	547,000,000	586,000,000		1,800,000,000		1,700,000,000	202,000,000		79,000,000			556,000,000
Throughput capacity of petroleum refining									135,000	270,000
Percentage of voting interests acquired										100.00%
Purchase price of working capital										1,100,000,000
Acquired intangible assets weighted average useful life											10
Acquired intangible assets residual value	0
Joint venture ownership percentage			50.00%	85.00%	15.00%
Number of plants purchased													2		1			7
Number of ethanol plants under development acquired from VeraSun																	1
Payments to acquire businesses														20,000,000		1,000,000
Goodwill acquired						0						0
Gain from bargain purchase recognized in conjunction with acquisitions						0						0
Contingent assets or liabilities acquired or assumed								$ 0		$ 0