Debt and Finance Lease Obligations, Credit Facilities (Details)			12 Months Ended
		Apr. 13, 2020 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2020 USD ($)		Dec. 31, 2020 CAD ($)	Dec. 31, 2019 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2019 CAD ($)	Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2018 CAD ($)	Dec. 31, 2020 CAD ($)	Nov. 30, 2020 CAD ($)	Jul. 31, 2020 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2020 USD ($)	Nov. 30, 2019 USD ($)	Oct. 31, 2019 USD ($)
364-day Revolving Credit Facility [Member] | Credit Facilities [Member]
Line of Credit Facility
Facility amount		$ 875,000,000	$ 875,000,000
Outstanding borrowings or letters of credit issued, short-term			0
Availability			875,000,000
Credit Facilities (Textual)
Line of credit facility, term		364 days
364-day Revolving Credit Facility [Member] | Credit Facilities [Member] | Minimum [Member] | Base Rate [Member]
Credit Facilities (Textual)
Basis spread on variable rate		0.15%
364-day Revolving Credit Facility [Member] | Credit Facilities [Member] | Minimum [Member] | Eurodollar Rate [Member]
Credit Facilities (Textual)
Basis spread on variable rate		0.15%
364-day Revolving Credit Facility [Member] | Credit Facilities [Member] | Maximum [Member] | Base Rate [Member]
Credit Facilities (Textual)
Basis spread on variable rate		1.70%
364-day Revolving Credit Facility [Member] | Credit Facilities [Member] | Maximum [Member] | Eurodollar Rate [Member]
Credit Facilities (Textual)
Basis spread on variable rate		1.70%
Canadian Revolver [Member] | Credit Facilities [Member]
Line of Credit Facility
Facility amount										$ 150,000,000	$ 150,000,000
Outstanding borrowings or letters of credit issued, short-term										0
Availability										145,000,000
Credit Facilities (Textual)
Amount borrowed / Amount of eligible receivables sold under accounts receivable sales facility					$ 0		$ 0		$ 0
Repayments of lines of credit					$ 0		$ 0		$ 0
Canadian Revolver Letter of Credit [Member] | Credit Facilities [Member]
Line of Credit Facility
Outstanding borrowings or letters of credit issued, short-term	[1]									$ 5,000,000
Accounts Receivable Sales Facility [Member] | Credit Facilities [Member]
Line of Credit Facility
Facility amount			1,000,000,000	[2]								$ 1,000,000,000.0	$ 1,300,000,000
Outstanding borrowings or letters of credit issued, short-term	[2]		0
Availability	[2]		885,000,000
Credit Facilities (Textual)
Interest rate of credit facility at period end (percent)						2.3866%
Amount borrowed / Amount of eligible receivables sold under accounts receivable sales facility			300,000,000			$ 900,000,000		$ 0
Repayments of lines of credit			400,000,000			900,000,000		0
Designated pool of accounts receivable			1,400,000,000			$ 2,200,000,000
Committed Letter of Credit Facility Expires November 2021 [Member] | Credit Facilities [Member]
Line of Credit Facility
Facility amount	[3]		50,000,000
Outstanding borrowings or letters of credit issued, short-term	[1],[3]		0
Availability	[3]		50,000,000
IEnova Revolver [Member] | Central Mexico Terminals [Member] | Credit Facilities [Member]
Line of Credit Facility
Facility amount			$ 660,000,000											$ 491,000,000	$ 340,000,000
Credit Facilities (Textual)
Interest rate of credit facility at period end (percent)			3.87%			5.749%				3.87%
Amount borrowed / Amount of eligible receivables sold under accounts receivable sales facility			$ 250,000,000			$ 239,000,000		109,000,000
Repayments of lines of credit			0			0		0
IEnova Revolver [Member] | Central Mexico Terminals [Member] | Credit Facilities [Member] | Variable Interest Entity, Primary Beneficiary [Member]
Line of Credit Facility
Facility amount	[4]		660,000,000
Outstanding borrowings or letters of credit issued, short-term	[4]		598,000,000
Availability	[4]		62,000,000
Uncommitted Letter of Credit Facility [Member] | Credit Facilities [Member]
Line of Credit Facility
Outstanding borrowings or letters of credit issued, short-term	[1]		150,000,000
Credit Facilities [Member] | Valero Revolver [Member]
Line of Credit Facility
Facility amount			4,000,000,000
Outstanding borrowings or letters of credit issued			0
Availability			3,966,000,000
Credit Facilities (Textual)
Borrowings from long-term lines of credit			0			0		0
Repayments of long-term lines of credit			0			0		0
Credit Facilities [Member] | Valero Revolver Letter of Credit [Member]
Line of Credit Facility
Facility amount			2,400,000,000
Outstanding borrowings or letters of credit issued	[1]		$ 34,000,000
Credit Facilities [Member] | VLP Revolver [Member] | Valero Energy Partners LP [Member]
Line of Credit Facility
Facility amount								750,000,000
Credit Facilities (Textual)
Repayments of long-term lines of credit								410,000,000
Senior Notes [Member] | VLP Senior Notes Due March 15, 2028 [Member]
Credit Facilities (Textual)
Interest rate of notes (percent)			4.50%							4.50%
Senior Notes [Member] | Valero Energy Partners LP [Member] | VLP Senior Notes Due March 15, 2028 [Member]
Credit Facilities (Textual)
Face amount of long-term debt issuance						$ 500,000,000		$ 500,000,000
Interest rate of notes (percent)						4.50%		4.50%

[1] Letters of credit issued as of December 31, 2020 expire at various times in 2021 through 2023.

[2] The available borrowing capacity was lower than the facility amount due to low product prices impacting the amount of eligible receivables.

[3] We extended the maturity date of the letter of credit facility from November 2020 to November 2021.

[4] Creditors of our VIE do not have recourse against us.