Chevron Corporation Case Study

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Chevron Corporation is a US-based transnational energy conglomerate. Chevron Corporation is the 2nd-biggest straight successor of Standard Oil. Initially, the name of the company was the Standard Oil Company of California (CalSo or SoCal, in brief). The head office of Chevron is located in San Ramon, California. The company has dominant footprints in over 180 nations. 

Chevron participates in every facet of the oil and natural gas sectors, such as refining, selling, and transportation; hydrocarbon discovery and manufacturing; chemicals production and marketing; and power generation.

What are the brands under Chevron Corporation?

The various brands under Chevron Corporation are: 

  • Chevron
  • Texaco
  • Caltex
  • Techron
  • Havoline
  • Gulf (1985–2010)
  • Calso (1946–55)

In which names was Chevron Corporation known previously?

Earlier, Chevron had the following names:   

  • Standard Oil of California (1906–1984)
  • Pacific Coast Oil Co. (1879–1906)

What type of company is Chevron?

Chevron has operated in different modes from time to time.         

  • As a private company from 1876 to 1906
  • As a subsidiary organization from 1906 to 1911
  • As a Public Company

To which industry does Chevron belong?

Chevron Corporation belongs to the following industries:   

  • Oil and gas
  • Energy

Which company is the forerunner of Chevron?

The forerunner of the oil and gas and energy giant is Standard Oil (1870–1911).

When was Chevron established? 

The company was set up on September 10, 1879, 143 years back, and its name at that point was Pacific Coast Oil Co.

Which area does the company serve?

The company has a global client base.

Chevron Corporation Management

Michael Wirth (Chairman and CEO)

Michael Wirth was born in 1960. He currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Chevron Corp. He has been in this position since 2018, after he took the place of John S. Watson. Earlier, Wirth served as the Vice Chairman of the firm. 

After graduating high school, Wirth was admitted to the University of Colorado. He attained a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering in 1982.   

In 1982, Michael became a part of Chevron and served in various divisions, such as operations, construction, and engineering. In 2001, he got promoted to the President of marketing for Asia, Africa, and the Middle East territory of Chevron.

Wirth has been a part of the board of directors for G.S. Caltex and Caltex Australia. 

What are the products offered by Chevron?

The oil and gas behemoth offers the following products:

  • Natural gas  
  • Gasoline 
  • Other petrochemical products 

How many people work for Chevron?

As of March 2021, 42,595 people work for the company. 

Which is its parent company?

From 1900–1911, its parent company was Standard Oil Co. 

Which are the daughter companies of Chevron?

The daughter companies of the firm are: 

  • Chevron Sri Lanka
  • Chevron Phillips Chemical

Operations

The operations of the company can be split into the following segments:

  • Upstream (oil and gas exploration and manufacturing) – mostly in Australia, the U.S., Angola, Nigeria, the Gulf of Mexico, and Kazakhstan.
  • Midstream – Bought Noble Midstream Partners L.P., operating in Colorado and West Texas.

Downstream Refining – The downstream activities of Chevron involve manufacturing and selling goods like lubricants, fuels, petrochemicals, and add-ons.

Transport – Chevron Shipping Company, a 100% subsidiary of the firm, delivers shipping, advisory, and risk-handling services. 

Chemicals – The main chemical enterprise of the company is a 50-50 partnership with Phillips 66. 

Retail – The retail operations are available throughout 21 states in America. 

Substitute Energy 

The substitute energy activities of the firm comprise wind, geothermal solar, fuel cells, biofuel, and hydrogen. It drastically grew its biofuel application from dairies in 2021, such as biomethane. It asserts that it is the world’s biggest generator of geothermal energy.

Who are the top contenders of Chevron?

The top rivals of Chevron are:

  • Shell plc
  • TotalEnergies
  • BP (British Petroleum)
  • ExxonMobil
  • Marathon
  • Phillips 66
  • ConocoPhillips
  • Valero
  • Eni

What are the controversies that struck Chevron?

1) Environmental harm in Ecuador – Texaco, one of its subsidiaries, was held accountable in 1993 for unloading billions of gallons of poisonous industrial wastes in the Lago Agrio oil field. They had to spend U.S. $40 million tidying the region throughout the 1990s. In 1998, the administration of Ecuador ratified a pact with Texaco acknowledging the tidying up as full and releasing Texaco of any additional accountability. However, once Texaco quit, subsequent soil and water sampling revealed that petroleum hydrocarbons were still at dangerous extents. Consequently, class action lawsuits against Chevron followed.

2) Oil leaks in Angola – In 2002, a key Chevron oil leak occurred in Angola, which contaminated seashores and fouled the aquatic surroundings. In 2002, the country claimed U.S. $2 million as damages for oil leakages supposedly created by Chevron, and it was the first occasion it imposed a penalty on a transnational company running in its territory.

3) U.S. Refineries 

a) U.S. Clean Air Act agreements-  

The United States Environmental Protection Agency, together with the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality and the United States Department of Justice, arrived at a resolution with Chevron Corporation for security enhancements in all its refineries in the U.S. because of allegations of conditions of the Clean Air Act being infringed by the discharge of harmful substances. The Environmental Protection Agency commenced the probe following a fire on August 6, 2012, which featured high-temperature organic compounds.

b) California refinery, Richmond 

In 1998, the Richmond refinery spent U.S. $540,000 as compensation for unlawfully sidestepping effluent treatments and not succeeding in advising the general public regarding poisonous discharges. Generally, Chevron has been named as probably accountable for ninety-five Superfund locations, with finances earmarked by the EPA for tidying up.

4) NiMH battery technology for vehicles – In October 2007, International Acquisitions Services and Innovative Transportation Systems sued Cobasys, one of its joint ventures, and its holding companies for letdown to meet a requisition for big-pattern NiMH batteries for utilization in the Innovan electric vehicle. In August 2008, Mercedes-Benz United States International moved the court versus Cobasys because it didn’t bid on the batteries it consented to design for the scheduled crossbreed Sports Utility Vehicle of Mercedes-Benz. The Mercedes-Benz lawsuit arrived at a settlement of U.S. $1.1 million.

5) Niger Delta gunfire – On May 28, 1998, campaigners organized a protest, and many people were taken captive on a corporation oil stage in Niger Delta, Nigeria. Armed forces in Nigeria and local police were assumedly aviated with Chevron choppers. Forces fired at the campaigners; consequently, two campaigners (Aroleka Irowaninu and Jola Ogungbeje) died from their injuries.

In 2007, Susan Illston, United States District Judge, gave the green signal to a proceeding initiated by injured parties and their kin versus Chevron to move ahead, stating that there might be proof that the accused firm had employed, oversaw, and/or supplied conveyance to the Nigerian army, notorious for their “universal chronicle of carrying out exploitation.” However, Chevron was absolved of all allegations posed against them in the lawsuit in December 2008.

6) U.N. sanctions – As laid down by BAGHDAD 000791, the United States Embassy Cable, the Prime Minister of Iraq assumed that Chevron took part in dialogues to endow Iran in infringement of the United Nations embargo. The U.S. embassy narrated that there was no autonomous substantiation of this allegation. These papers were planned to have been maintained confidentially till 2029.

7) Oil leak away from the Rio de Janeiro shores in 2011 – On November 8, 2011, the Brazilian government censured Chevron for its function in the fossil oil leak away from the southeastern shores of Brazil. The authorities in Brazil stated 416,400 liters of petroleum spilled over 14 days from underwater stones close to the shaft in the Frade oil mission 370 km away from the Brazilian seashores. Brazilian public prosecutors originally claimed U.S. $10.6 billion in the ensuing court case. This was the biggest ecological trial to date in Brazil.

The ANP (National Petroleum Agency) debarred Chevron’s operations in the country till it recognized the reason behind an oil spill away from the shores of Rio de Janeiro.

The ANP subsequently resolved that the leak was not instrumental in creating huge financial losses, hurting anybody, and accessing the seashores of Brazil. Chevron was acquitted of all criminal accusations, and all the lawsuits arrived at a settlement for U.S. $130 million.

8) K.S. Endeavor blast – The drilling rig of K.S. Endeavor blew up on January 16, 2012, at the time of boring an oil exploration shaft for the company in the Funiwa area in Nigeria. The blast led to the fatality of 2 of the 154 staff aboard and an inferno that blazed for forty-six days before the company decided to shut the shaft on June 18. 

9) Polish gas search – Chevron has witnessed remonstrations targeted at the firm by the local group of people in South Poland once they commenced searching for gas in the area. They objected that Chevron failed to submit all the paperwork necessary for gas searching in the country. Besides, the firm did not undertake to distribute a fraction of the proceeds to the local property owners.

10) Carbon footprint and global warming – The Climate Accountability Institute discovered through an assessment that Chevron added CO2 equivalent weighing 43.35 billion tons since 1965.

As per the statement of Chevron, the overall CO2e discharges (Indirect + Direct) for the 12 months closing December 31, 2020, were at 58,000 Kilotons (-9.4% y-o-y /-6,000). 

Chevron Corporation’s stock performance

The common stocks of Chevron are transacted on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) with the ticker symbol CVX. The stocks form components of the indices listed below:

  • Standard & Poor 100 
  • Standard & Poor 500 
  • Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA)

On October 14, 2022, Chevron (CVX) ended trading at U.S. $160.14 with the data furnished below at 4:05 pm EDT (Eastern Daylight Time). 

Stock chart

Chevron Corporation Financials at a glimpse

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