Valero Energy Corp , the top independent U.S. refiner, is working to sell its remaining plants on the U.S. East Coast and in the Caribbean, the Wall Street Journal said.

Also on Wednesday, Valero is likely to indicate whether it might cut its dividend to preserve cash, the paper said.

An investment group led by refining maverick Tom O'Malley is already in talks with Valero Energy Corp to buy the assets of the shuttered 210,000-barrel-per-day Delaware City refinery.

Valero is expected to report a 2009 loss that is far deeper than the $1.1 billion loss posted the year before, the paper said.

Valero Energy could not be immediately reached for a comment by Reuters outside of regular U.S. business hours.

(Reporting by Sakthi Prasad in Bangalore; Editing by Valerie Lee)

Investment Energy Valero Energy Corporation