Chevron Corp New — Business Overview

What does Chevron do?

Chevron is one of the world's largest integrated energy companies, meaning it participates in nearly every step of the oil and gas value chain — from finding hydrocarbons underground to selling refined fuel at the pump. The company manages its operations through two primary segments: Upstream and Downstream.

Chevron significantly expanded its scale in 2025 through the acquisition of Hess Corporation, adding major assets in the Gulf of America, the Bakken shale in North Dakota, and a 30% stake in the highly productive Stabroek Block offshore Guyana. Total worldwide oil-equivalent production reached 3.7 million barrels per day in 2025, up about 12% from 2024. The company employs roughly 43,000 people globally.

How does Chevron make money?

The core revenue engine is selling oil and natural gas it produces, and selling refined petroleum products to end customers. On the upstream side, Chevron sells crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids (NGLs — lighter hydrocarbons like propane and butane separated from raw natural gas) from fields it operates around the world. Revenue here fluctuates directly with commodity prices, which are set by global supply and demand. In 2025, U.S. natural gas sales averaged 5.7 billion cubic feet per day, and international sales averaged 5.5 billion cubic feet per day. NGL sales averaged 562,000 barrels per day in the U.S. and 249,000 barrels per day internationally.

On the downstream side, Chevron earns money on the spread between the cost of crude oil it buys (or produces) and the price it fetches for refined products — gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, lubricants, and petrochemicals. Worldwide refined product sales volumes reached approximately 2.8 million barrels per day in 2025. The company also earns income through its 50% stake in Chevron Phillips Chemical (CPChem), which makes plastics and specialty chemicals, and through its 50% stake in GS Caltex in South Korea, one of the world's largest refineries.

What market does Chevron operate in?

Chevron competes in the global oil and gas industry, one of the largest commodity markets on earth. Crude oil prices are set by global supply and demand, with major influences from OPEC production decisions, U.S. shale output levels, and broader economic conditions. The industry is inherently cyclical — revenues and profits rise and fall with energy prices rather than predictably growing year over year.

Long-term secular trends create both headwinds and opportunities for Chevron. On one hand, the global energy transition is gradually shifting demand toward electricity and renewables, which could reduce fossil fuel consumption over time. On the other hand, global energy demand remains high and growing in developing economies, and LNG in particular is widely seen as a transition fuel. Chevron is investing in renewable diesel, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), renewable natural gas, hydrogen, carbon capture, and even lithium extraction — though these remain small relative to its core oil and gas business.

Who are Chevron's main competitors?

Chevron competes at the very top of a concentrated industry dominated by a handful of supermajors. Its primary global competitors include ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, and TotalEnergies — all of which, like Chevron, are fully integrated across upstream and downstream operations. Chevron also competes with large national oil companies (government-owned producers like Saudi Aramco and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company) for acreage and resources, and with independent refiners and marketers on the downstream side.

Chevron's claimed competitive advantages center on its low-cost, high-quality asset base. The company highlights its position as one of the largest producers in the Permian Basin (over 1.75 million net acres in Texas and New Mexico, producing 1 million barrels of oil-equivalent per day in 2025), the largest acreage holder in the Gulf of America, and the largest LNG producer in Australia. It holds more than 4,000 patents and has invested heavily in drilling efficiency, particularly the "factory development" model — using multi-well pads and horizontal drilling to drive down per-barrel costs systematically.

Where does Chevron operate?

Chevron operates on every inhabited continent, with its most significant producing regions being the United States, Australia, Kazakhstan, and Africa. As of year-end 2025, 43% of proved reserves were in the United States, 15% in Australia, and 11% in Kazakhstan.

Outside the U.S., Chevron sells under the Texaco brand in Latin America and the Caltex brand across the Asia-Pacific region, with about 5,200 branded service stations and major refinery affiliates in Singapore, South Korea, and Thailand. The company notes exposure to geopolitical risk in several regions — Venezuela operations depend on U.S. government licenses, Kazakhstan crude exports rely on the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (which also transports Russian oil), and Myanmar operations were fully exited in 2024.