Leases, Significant Lease Commencement (Details) $ in Millions	6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2020 USD ($) renewal	Dec. 31, 2019 USD ($)
Significant Lease Commencement (Textual)
Finance lease ROU asset	$ 2,225	$ 790
Finance lease liability	$ 2,248	$ 791
MVP Terminalling, LLC (MVP) [Member]
Significant Lease Commencement (Textual)
Initial term of terminal agreement	12 years
Number of available automatic renewals \| renewal	2
Automatic renewal term of terminalling agreement	5 years
MVP Terminal [Member]
Significant Lease Commencement (Textual)
Finance lease ROU asset	$ 1,400
Finance lease liability	$ 1,400
MVP Terminalling, LLC (MVP) [Member]
Significant Lease Commencement (Textual)
Membership percentage in VIE (percent)	50.00%

Present value of lessee's discounted obligation for lease payments from finance lease.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 842
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 6
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=121609121&loc=SL77918701-209980

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 842
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=121603541&loc=SL77918627-209977

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount, after accumulated amortization, of right-of-use asset from finance lease.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 842
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=121603541&loc=SL77918627-209977

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Percentage of the Variable Interest Entity's (VIE) voting interest owned by (or beneficial interest in) the reporting entity (directly or indirectly).

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 810
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 5A
-Subparagraph (d)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=121559654&loc=SL6759159-111685

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Term of the entity's agreement renewal option that may be requested.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	vlo_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Represents the number of times an entity may request to renew or extend the term of an agreement or contract.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	vlo_NumberOfRenewalOptions
Namespace Prefix:	vlo_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Terminalling Agreement, Initial Term

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	vlo_TerminallingAgreementInitialTerm
Namespace Prefix:	vlo_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

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Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

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Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

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Namespace Prefix:
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Balance Type:
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