Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2018

General

As used in this report, the terms “Valero,” “we,” “us,” or “our” refer to Valero Energy Corporation, one or more of its consolidated subsidiaries, or all of them taken as a whole.

These unaudited financial statements have been prepared in accordance with United States (U.S.) generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and notes required by U.S. GAAP for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, all adjustments considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included. All such adjustments are of a normal recurring nature unless disclosed otherwise. Operating results for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2018.

The balance sheet as of December 31, 2017 has been derived from our audited financial statements as of that date. For further information, refer to our financial statements and notes thereto included in our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017.

Reclassifications

Certain prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform to the 2018 presentation.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the financial statements and accompanying notes. Actual results could differ from those estimates. On an ongoing basis, we review our estimates based on currently available information. Changes in facts and circumstances may result in revised estimates.

Revenue Recognition

Background

We adopted the provisions of Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Accounting Standards Codification Topic 606, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers,” (Topic 606) on January 1, 2018, as described below in “Accounting Pronouncements Adopted on January 1, 2018.” Accordingly, our revenue recognition accounting policy has been revised to reflect the adoption of this standard.

Revised Policy

Our revenues are primarily generated from contracts with customers. We generate revenue from contracts with customers from the sale of products by our refining and ethanol segments. Our VLP segment generates intersegment revenues from transportation and terminaling activities provided to our refining segment that are eliminated in consolidation. Revenues are recognized when we satisfy our performance obligation to transfer products to our customers, which typically occurs at a point in time upon shipment or delivery of the products, and for an amount that reflects the transaction price that is allocated to the performance obligation.

The customer is able to direct the use of, and obtain substantially all of the benefits from, the products at the point of shipment or delivery. As a result, we consider control to have transferred upon shipment or delivery because we have a present right to payment at that time, the customer has legal title to the asset, we have transferred physical possession of the asset, and the customer has significant risks and rewards of ownership of the asset.

Our contracts with customers state the final terms of the sale, including the description, quantity, and price for goods sold. Payment is typically due in full within two to ten days of delivery. In the normal course of business, we generally do not accept product returns.

The transaction price is the consideration that we expect to be entitled to in exchange for our products. The transaction price for substantially all of our contracts is generally based on commodity market pricing (i.e., variable consideration). As such, this market pricing may be constrained (i.e., not estimable) at the inception of the contract but will be recognized based on the applicable market pricing, which will be known upon transfer of the goods to the customer. Some of our contracts also contain variable consideration in the form of sales incentives to our customers, such as discounts and rebates. For contracts that include variable consideration, we estimate the factors that determine the variable consideration in order to establish the transaction price.

We have elected to exclude from the measurement of the transaction price all taxes assessed by governmental authorities that are both imposed on and concurrent with a specific revenue-producing transaction and collected by us from a customer (e.g., sales tax, use tax, value-added tax, etc.). We continue to include in the transaction price excise taxes that are imposed on certain inventories in our international operations. The amount of such taxes is provided in supplemental information in a footnote on the statements of income.

There are instances where we provide shipping services in relation to the goods sold to our customer. Shipping and handling costs that occur before the customer obtains control of the goods are deemed to be fulfillment activities and are included in cost of materials and other. We have elected to account for shipping and handling activities that occur after the customer has obtained control of a good as fulfillment activities rather than as a promised service and we have included these activities in cost of materials and other.

New Accounting Pronouncements

Accounting Pronouncements Adopted During 2018

Topic 606

As previously noted, we adopted the provisions of Topic 606 on January 1, 2018. Topic 606 clarifies the principles for recognizing revenue and supersedes previous revenue recognition requirements under “Revenue Recognition (Topic 605),” using the modified retrospective method of adoption as permitted by the standard. Under this method, the cumulative effect of initially applying the standard is recognized as an adjustment to the opening balance of retained earnings, and revenues reported in the periods prior to the date of adoption are not changed. We elected to apply the transition guidance for Topic 606 only to contracts that were not completed as of the date of adoption. There was no material impact to our financial position as a result of adopting Topic 606; therefore, there was no cumulative-effect adjustment to retained earnings as of January 1, 2018. Additionally, there was no material impact to our financial position or results of operations as of and for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018. See “Revenue Recognition” above for a discussion of our accounting policy affected by our adoption of Topic 606. Also see Note 12 for further information on our revenues. We implemented new processes in order to monitor ongoing compliance with accounting and disclosure requirements.

ASU No. 2016-01

In January 2016, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) No. 2016-01, “Financial Instruments—Overall (Subtopic 825-10): Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities,” (ASU No. 2016-01) to enhance the reporting model for financial instruments regarding certain aspects of recognition, measurement, presentation, and disclosure. We adopted the provisions of ASU No. 2016-01 on January 1, 2018 using the cumulative-effect method of adoption as required by the ASU. The adoption of this ASU did not affect our financial position or our results of operations as of or for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, but it resulted in reduced disclosures as it eliminated the requirement to disclose the methods and significant assumptions used to estimate the fair value of financial instruments.

ASU No. 2017-04

In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-04, “Intangibles—Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment,” (ASU No. 2017-04) to simplify the subsequent measurement of goodwill by eliminating Step 2 from the goodwill impairment test. Under the provisions of this ASU, an entity should perform its annual, or interim, goodwill impairment test by comparing the fair value of a reporting unit with its carrying amount, including goodwill (rather than under the current method of comparing the implied fair value of goodwill with its carrying amount), and should recognize an impairment charge for the amount by which the carrying amount exceeds the reporting unit’s fair value. However, the impairment charge should not exceed the carrying amount of goodwill allocated to that reporting unit. An entity still has the option to perform the qualitative assessment for a reporting unit to determine if the quantitative impairment test is necessary. The provisions of ASU No. 2017-04 are effective for annual or any interim goodwill impairment tests in reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2019 on a prospective basis, with early adoption permitted. We adopted the provisions of ASU No. 2017-04 on October 1, 2018. The adoption of this ASU will not have an immediate effect on our financial position or results of operations, but may result in additional disclosures, as it is applied prospectively to impairment tests performed after the date of adoption.

ASU No. 2017-07

In March 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-07, “Compensation—Retirement Benefits (Topic 715): Improving the Presentation of Net Periodic Pension Cost and Net Periodic Postretirement Benefit Cost,” (ASU No. 2017-07) that requires employers to report the service cost component of net periodic pension cost and net periodic postretirement benefit cost in the same line item as other compensation costs arising from services rendered by the pertinent employees during the period. It also requires the other components of net periodic pension cost and net periodic postretirement benefit cost (non-service cost components) to be presented in the income statement separately from the service cost component and outside a subtotal of income from operations. We retrospectively adopted the provisions of ASU No. 2017-07 on January 1, 2018. The adoption of this ASU did not affect our financial position or results of operations, but did result in the reclassification of non-service cost components from operating expenses (excluding depreciation and amortization expense) and general and administrative expenses (excluding depreciation and amortization expense) to other income, net. This resulted in an increase of $10 million and $31 million in operating expenses (excluding depreciation and amortization expense) and a decrease of $4 million and $5 million in general and administrative expenses (excluding depreciation and amortization expense) for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017, respectively.

ASU No. 2017-09

In May 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-09, “Compensation—Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Scope of Modification Accounting,” (ASU No. 2017-09) to reduce diversity in practice, as well as reduce cost and complexity regarding a change to the terms or conditions of a share-based payment award. We adopted ASU No. 2017-09 on January 1, 2018. The adoption of this ASU did not have an immediate effect on our financial position or results of operations as it is applied prospectively to an award modified on or after adoption.

ASU No. 2018-02

In February 2018, the FASB issued ASU No. 2018-02, “Income Statement—Reporting Comprehensive Income (Topic 220): Reclassification of Certain Tax Effects from Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income,” (ASU No. 2018-02) that allows for the stranded tax effects resulting from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (Tax Reform) to be reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive income to retained earnings. The provisions of ASU No. 2018-02 are effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2018, and interim reporting periods within those annual reporting periods, with early adoption permitted. This ASU shall be applied either at the beginning of the annual or interim period of adoption or retrospectively to each period in which the income tax effects of Tax Reform affects the items remaining in accumulated other comprehensive income. We adopted ASU No. 2018-02 on January 1, 2018 and elected to reclassify the stranded income tax effects of Tax Reform from accumulated other comprehensive loss to retained earnings as of the beginning of the interim period of adoption. The adoption of this ASU did not affect our financial position or results of operations but resulted in the reclassification of $91 million of income tax benefits related to Tax Reform from accumulated other comprehensive loss to retained earnings as presented in our statement of equity and in Note 7 under “Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss.” We release stranded income tax effects from accumulated other comprehensive loss to retained earnings on an individual item basis as those items are reclassified into income.

ASU No. 2018-05

In March 2018, the FASB issued ASU No. 2018-05, “Income Taxes (Topic 740): Amendments to SEC Paragraphs Pursuant to SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 118,” (ASU No. 2018-05) to amend certain Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) material in Topic 740 for the income tax accounting implications of the recently issued Tax Reform. This guidance clarifies the application of Topic 740 in situations where a registrant does not have the necessary information available, prepared, or analyzed in reasonable detail to complete the accounting under Topic 740 for certain income tax effects of Tax Reform for the reporting period in which Tax Reform was enacted. See Note 10 for a discussion of the impact of this ASU.

ASU No. 2018-13

In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU No. 2018-13, “Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820): Disclosure Framework—Changes to the Disclosure Requirements for Fair Value Measurement,” (ASU No. 2018-13) to improve the effectiveness of disclosures in the notes to financial statements by removing, modifying, and adding certain disclosure requirements for fair value measurements. For example, entities will no longer be required to disclose the amount of and reasons for transfers between Level 1 and Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy, but will be required to disclose the range and weighted average used to develop significant unobservable inputs for Level 3 fair value measurements. The provisions of ASU No. 2018-13 are effective for all entities for annual reporting periods, beginning after December 15, 2019, and interim periods within those annual reporting periods, with early adoption permitted. Certain provisions of this ASU, primarily related to disclosures, require the prospective method of adoption, with the remaining provisions applied retrospectively. We adopted all of the provisions of ASU No. 2018-13 on October 1, 2018. The adoption of this ASU will not affect our financial position or results of operations, but will result in revised disclosures.

Accounting Pronouncements Not Yet Adopted

Topic 842

In February 2016, the FASB issued “Leases (Topic 842),” (Topic 842) to increase the transparency and comparability among organizations by recognizing lease assets and lease liabilities on the balance sheet and disclosing key information about leasing arrangements. This new standard is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2018, and interim reporting periods within those annual reporting periods, with early adoption permitted. We will adopt this new standard on January 1, 2019, and we expect to use the optional transition method, which allows us to recognize a cumulative-effect adjustment to the opening balance of retained earnings at the date of adoption and apply the new disclosure requirements beginning in the period of adoption.

The new standard provides a number of optional practical expedients and we expect to elect the following:


•	Transition Elections. We expect to elect the package of practical expedients that permits us to not reassess under the new standard our prior conclusions about lease identification, lease classification, and initial direct costs, as well as the practical expedient that permits us to not assess existing land easements under the new standard.


•	Ongoing Accounting Policy Elections. We expect to elect the short-term lease recognition exemption whereby right-of-use (ROU) assets and lease liabilities will not be recognized for leasing arrangements with terms less than one year, and the practical expedient to not separate lease and non-lease components for all classes of underlying assets other than the marine transportation asset class.

We are enhancing our contracting and lease evaluation systems and related processes, and we are developing a new lease accounting system to capture our leases and support the required disclosures. We have monitored and will continue to monitor the adoption process to ensure compliance with accounting and disclosure requirements. We also continue the integration of our lease accounting system with our general ledger, including the modifications to our related procurement and payment processes during the fourth quarter of 2018.

We anticipate this standard will have a material impact on (i) the recognition of ROU assets and lease liabilities on our balance sheet for our operating leases, (ii) the derecognition of existing assets under construction in a build-to-suit lease arrangement (see Note 6 under “Commitments—MVP Terminal”), and (iii) the presentation of new disclosures about our leasing activities. However, we do not expect adoption to have a material impact on our results of operations or liquidity. We expect our accounting for capital leases to remain substantially unchanged.

ASU No. 2016-13

In June 2016, the FASB issued “Financial Instruments—Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments,” (ASU No. 2016-13) to improve financial reporting by requiring the immediate recognition of credit losses on financial instruments held by a reporting entity. This ASU requires the measurement of all expected credit losses for financial assets held at the reporting date based on historical experience, current conditions, and reasonable and supportable forecasts. It also requires enhanced disclosures, including qualitative and quantitative requirements that provide additional information about the amounts recorded in the financial statements. The provisions of this ASU are effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2019, and interim periods within those annual reporting periods, with early adoption permitted for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2018. The provisions of this ASU should be applied through a cumulative-effect adjustment to retained earnings as of the beginning of the first reporting period in which this ASU is effective (i.e., the modified-retrospective approach). We expect to adopt ASU No. 2016-13 effective January 1, 2020 and we do not expect such adoption to affect our financial position or our results of operations.

ASU No. 2017-12

In August 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-12, “Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815): Targeted Improvements to Accounting for Hedging Activities,” (ASU No. 2017-12) to improve and simplify accounting guidance for hedge accounting. The provisions of this ASU are effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2018, and interim reporting periods within those annual reporting periods, with early adoption permitted. We use derivative instruments to hedge our commodity price risk; however, we have not designated these derivative instruments as fair value or cash flow hedges (see Note 15). Certain provisions of this ASU, primarily related to disclosures, require the prospective method of adoption, with the remaining provisions applied through a cumulative-effect adjustment to retained earnings as of the adoption date. The adoption of ASU No. 2017-12 effective January 1, 2019 is not expected to affect our financial position or results of operations.

ASU No. 2018-14

In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU No. 2018-14, “Compensation—Retirement Benefits—Defined Benefit Plans—General (Subtopic 715-20): Disclosure Framework—Changes to the Disclosure Requirements for Defined Benefit Plans,” (ASU No. 2018-14) to improve the effectiveness of disclosures in the notes to financial statements by removing, modifying, and adding certain disclosure requirements for employers that sponsor defined benefit pension or other postretirement plans. For example, entities will no longer be required to disclose the amounts in accumulated other comprehensive income expected to be recognized as components of net periodic benefit cost over the next fiscal year, but will be required to (i) disclose the weighted-average interest crediting rates for cash balance plans and other plans with promised interest crediting rates and (ii) provide an explanation of the reasons for significant gains and losses related to changes in the benefit obligation for the period. The provisions of ASU No. 2018-14 are effective for annual reporting periods ending after December 15, 2020 on a retrospective basis for all periods presented, with early adoption permitted. We anticipate adopting ASU No. 2018-14 on December 31, 2018. The adoption of this ASU will not affect our financial position or results of operations, but will result in revised disclosures.

ASU No. 2018-17

In October 2018, the FASB issued ASU No. 2018-17, “Consolidation (Topic 810): Targeted Improvements to Related Party Guidance for Variable Interest Entities,” (ASU No. 2018-17) to reduce the cost and complexity of financial reporting associated with consolidation of variable interest entities (VIEs). We consolidate a VIE when we have a variable interest in an entity for which we are the primary beneficiary as further described in Note 8. One of the provisions of this ASU amends how a decision maker or service provider determines whether its fee is a variable interest. This guidance requires reporting entities to consider indirect interests held through related parties under common control on a proportional basis rather than as the equivalent of a direct interest in its entirety (as currently required in GAAP). The provisions of this ASU are effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2019, and interim reporting periods within those annual reporting periods, with early adoption permitted. The provisions should be applied on a retrospective basis with a cumulative-effect adjustment to retained earnings as of the beginning of the earliest period presented. We expect to adopt ASU No. 2018-17 effective January 1, 2019 and we do not expect such adoption to affect our financial position or results of operations, but may impact future transactions with VIEs.

Variable interest entities

We consolidate a VIE when we have a variable interest in an entity for which we are the primary beneficiary.

We hold variable interests in VIEs that have not been consolidated because we are not considered the primary beneficiary. These non-consolidated VIEs are not material to our financial position or results of operations and are primarily accounted for as equity investments. MVP is one of our non-consolidated VIEs and is accounted for under owner accounting as described in Note 6.

Offsetting fair value amounts of commodity derivative contracts

We have elected to offset the fair value amounts recognized for multiple similar derivative contracts executed with the same counterparty, including any related cash collateral assets or obligations as shown below; however, fair value amounts by hierarchy level are presented in the following tables on a gross basis. We have no derivative contracts that are subject to master netting arrangements that are reflected gross on the balance sheet.

Derivatives

We are exposed to market risks primarily related to the volatility in the price of commodities, and foreign currency exchange rates, and the price of credits needed to comply with various government and regulatory programs. We enter into derivative instruments to manage some of these risks, including derivative instruments related to the various commodities we purchase or produce, and foreign currency exchange and purchase contracts, as described below under “Risk Management Activities by Type of Risk.” These derivative instruments are recorded as either assets or liabilities measured at their fair values (see Note 14), as summarized below under “Fair Values of Derivative Instruments,” with changes in fair value recognized currently in income. The effect of these derivative instruments on our income is summarized below under “Effect of Derivative Instruments on Income.”

Derivative instruments collateral requirements

We do not require any collateral or other security to support derivative instruments into which we enter.