“2021 looks to be shaping up as a year where there will be steady progress against the pandemic and I think it will end much better than it begins.” Mike Wirth, the current Chairman, and CEO of Chevron seem to have a positive outlook for energy demand in the current year. In an interview with Bloomberg, Mike said the pandemic made everyone stay in their places, travel restrictions are everywhere and so there has been little to almost no demand for oil but he views 2021 with full optimism. With the vaccine being just around the corner, he thinks that people will start to move around and this will result in a gradual increase in demand for oil and energy.
Chevron is an American multinational oil and energy corporation that works to supply the increasing demand for energy in the world. Chevron is known for refining and providing reliable, affordable, and cleaner energy to meet the huge amount of demand globally. Michael Wirth is a fellow from San Ramon, California and he was elected to be Chairman of the Board and CEO of Chevron last September 2017 after serving as Vice Chairman and Executive Vice President of the company.
Chevron (NYSE:CVX) recently acquired Noble Energy (NASDAQ: NBL) and for Mike, “Together, we’re better than before.”. Noble Energy is also a very strong energy company that operates offshore Israel, the west coast of Africa, and onshore in top basins covering the U.S. of America. The recent acquisition aims to make the company stronger to attract more investors and to bring more investments in the company.
According to Mike, ‘value’ not volume, is their primary criterion. “We’re trying to create value for shareholders and strong cash flows to support our business,”. He said that the Permian Basin is an ‘attractive asset‘ within their portfolio that fits their capital priorities ‘very well‘. He described it to be very flexible and gives a high return in a short cycle. Michael also added that they are currently finishing a ‘very large‘ project in Kazakhstan that will give them additional capital spending when completed. The projected earnings will move into other unconventional opportunities in Argentina, in the U.S., Canada, and the deepwater Gulf of Mexico.
In terms of demand, Chevron’s CEO thinks that it will likely level out. He said by 2040 there will be 9 billion people where most don’t live a life like those in developed countries. For Mike, the aspiration for a better quality of life is very human longing and that will drive economic development and demand for energy of all types.
“Fossil fuels are at the core of our business and long have been.”. Mike said that they’ve also been focusing on low carbon fuel types. He stated that the company had wind and solar in its business. “I’ve been involved in bringing new fuels into tests in markets in California– I’ve put in natural gas refueling stations, methanol, electric vehicle charging stations,” said Mike while he also stated that they’ve been investing in other energy technologies where they bring unique capabilities and skills. In line with that, he added, “We intend to undertake things where we think our unique set of technical operating and financial capabilities allow us to do things that are large, complex at scale and things that aren’t necessarily easily done by others.” On a final note, he said the company will include new things and will continue to expand their business over time.
