Jan 29 (Reuters) - Valero Energy ( VLO ) has engaged with three authorized sellers of Venezuelan crude and ‌will purchase barrels from all three ​of them, it said on a ‍conference call on Thursday.

The ⁠refiner did ⁠not disclose the sellers, but added that ‌it expects ​Venezuelan crude will make up a "pretty large part of ⁠its heavy crude ‍diet" ​in February and March.

Valero also said its capability to process Venezuelan ‍crude is expected to be substantially more than 240,000 barrels per day.

U.S. refiners are expected to benefit significantly from President ​Donald ‍Trump's efforts to boost output in Venezuela and rebuild ​the country's dilapidated oil sector following the capture of President Nicolas Maduro earlier in January.

The company kicked off the earnings season for U.S. ​refiners earlier on Thursday.