Valero Pulls Back on Mexican Oil After Texas Refinery Blast

Top independent US oil refiner Valero Energy Corp., the largest buyer of Mexican crude, has cut purchases from the country to a trickle in April as it struggles to restart its Texas refinery following an emergency total shutdown.

The company has agreed to buy one cargo from Mexico of less than 200,000 barrels this month, according to a document seen by Bloomberg. That compares with an average of 4 million barrels a month last year.

The majority of Valero’s imports go to the Port Arthur refinery, one of the largest on the US Gulf Coast. In late March, the ...