Valero's Board of Directors gives the go-ahead for work to proceed on the
Pipeline Saint-Laurent Project

MONTREAL, July 30 /CNW Telbec/ - Today, Ultramar announced that the Board of Directors of Valero Energy Corporation (parent company of Ultramar Ltd.) has given its approval for work to proceed on the Pipeline Saint-Laurent Project, linking its refinery at Lévis to its Montreal East facilities, in accordance with the budgets and timelines submitted.

"Since we obtained the full backing of the Québec government last March, all that was left to do was to meet with the Board of Directors of Valero in order to obtain the required financing to proceed with activities. Yesterday, at a meeting with the Board, we received this approval," confirmed the President of Ultramar Ltd., Mr. Jean Bernier.

"The Board's approval allows us to finalize the engineering and to prepare the construction phase, which should get underway this fall throughout all of the 32 municipalities crossed by the pipeline. We will also be finalizing our calls for tender to eventually purchase, among others, the pipes, pumps and related equipment," added Mr. Jean Bernier.

Based on the timelines submitted, work will continue throughout 2011 and 2012, for a projected start-up of operations towards the end of 2012.

A structuring project, approved further to a comprehensive consultation process

Ultramar demonstrated it has met environmental requirements related to the project, while also illustrating its rationale. It is worth mentioning that the Pipeline Saint-Laurent project has gone through a long process involving successively, among others, presentations to the environmental public hearings bureau (BAPE), the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, the agricultural land protection commission, the Quebec administrative tribunal and the Court of Quebec.

This project of nearly $350,000,000 will allow to substantially reduce the number of unit trains circulating in the Lévis-Montreal corridor, resulting in significant gains, in terms of environment protection as well as safety, for the population and from a supply perspective. The project offers many advantages. Transportation via a pipeline is clean, reliable and efficient. It is a major element for the energy security of Quebec, allowing Ultramar to secure even further its supplies to the Greater Montreal region, and ensuring uninterrupted supplies during winter. It will also allow a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of nearly 30,000 tons per year.

About Ultramar

Ultramar Ltd., a subsidiary of Valero Energy Corporation (VLO on the New York Stock Exchange), owns and operates a refinery, whose current production capacity is 265,000 barrels of oil per day, at Lévis, near Quebec City. It markets gasoline and diesel fuel to a large group of industrial and wholesale customers and via a network of some 830 service stations and convenience stores and 85 cardlocks, in addition to selling home heating oil to about 140,000 customers. Headquartered in Montreal, Ultramar employs over 3,700 persons and its refining, distribution and retail sales networks contribute to supporting more than 10,000 jobs, making it one of the largest employers in Eastern Canada. For more information on Ultramar, visit the Company's website at http://www.ultramar.ca.

For further information: Louis Forget - Vice President, Public and Government Affairs, Telephone: [phone] or [phone], Cell phone: [phone]; www.pipelinesaintlaurent.ca; Source: Ultramar Ltd.