* Add sections re: White House connections to Chevron.
   * criticisms from Berne Declaration for Human Rights 


Chevron Corporation
IndustryOil and Gasoline
HeadquartersSan Ramon, California,
USA United States
Key people
David J. O'Reilly, CEO & Chairman
Steve Crowe, CFO
ProductsPetrochemical
RevenueIncrease$204.892 Billion USD (2006)[1]
Increase$31.976 Billion USD (2006)
Increase$17.138 Billion USD (2006)
Number of employees
59,000 (2006)
Websitewww.chevron.com

Chevron Corporation (NYSECVX) is one of the world's largest global energy companies. Headquartered in San Ramon, California, USA and active in more than 180 countries, it is engaged in every aspect of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production; refining, marketing and transport; chemicals manufacturing and sales; and power generation. Chevron is one of the world's six "supermajor" oil companies.

Chevron was originally known as Standard Oil of California, or Socal, and was formed amid the antitrust breakup of Standard Oil in 1911. It was one of the "Seven Sisters" that dominated the world oil industry during the early 20th century. In 1933, Saudi Arabia granted Socal a concession to find oil, which finally occurred in 1938 when the largest oil field on earth was discovered. Socal's subsidiary California-Arabian Standard Oil Company evolved over the years, becoming the Arabian American Oil Company (ARAMCO) in 1944. In 1973, the Saudi government began buying into ARAMCO. By 1980, the company was entirely owned by the Saudis and in 1988, the name was changed to Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco).

In 1984, the merger between Chevron and Gulf Oil became the largest merger in world history at the time. Because of its size, Gulf divested many of its worldwide operating subsidiaries and sold some Gulf stations and a refinery in the eastern United States to satisfy US antitrust requirements. In 2001, the former Chevron corporation merged with Texaco to form ChevronTexaco. On May 9, 2005, ChevronTexaco announced it would drop the Texaco moniker and return to the Chevron name. Texaco will remain as a brand under the Chevron Corporation. On August 19, 2005, Chevron merged with the Unocal Corporation, a move which, because of Unocal's large South East Asian geothermal operations, made Chevron the largest producer of geothermal energy in the world. [1]

Overview

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Entrance driveway of Chevron's headquarters complex in San Ramon, California

Chevron employs approximately 59,000 people worldwide and had approximately 12 billion barrels (1.9 km³) of oil-equivalent net proved reserves at December 31, 2003. Daily production in 2003 was 2.5 million net oil-equivalent barrels (400,000 m³) per day. In addition, the company had a global refining capacity at year-end 2003 of 2.2 million barrels (350,000 m³) of crude oil per day. The company has a worldwide marketing network in 84 countries with approximately 24,000 retail sites, including those of affiliate companies. The company also has interests in 13 power generating assets in the United States, Asia, and Europe. Chevron also has gas stations in Western Canada.

The company marked its 125th anniversary in 2004, tracing its roots to an oil discovery at Pico Canyon, north of Los Angeles. This find led to the formation, in 1879, of the Pacific Coast Oil Company, the predecessor of Chevron Corporation. Another side of the genealogical chart points to the 1901 founding of The Texas Fuel Company, a modest enterprise that started out in three rooms of a corrugated iron building in Beaumont, Texas. This company would later become known as Texaco.

Chevron was headquartered in San Francisco for nearly a century before it relocated its headquarters across the bay to San Ramon, CA. Chevron's headquarters buildings at 555 and 575 Market Street, built in the mid-1960s, in San Francisco were sold in December 1999. [2] Its original headquarters were at 200 Bush St., built in 1912. [3]

 
A Standard-branded Chevron station (with Chevron logo) in Fort Worth, Texas

Chevron is the owner of the Standard Oil trademark in a 16-state area of the western and southeastern United States. To maintain ownership of the mark, the company owns and operates one Standard-branded Chevron station in each state of its area. [4] Chevron also is currently the owner of the trademark rights to Texaco brand gasoline. Texaco fuels are now supplied by Chevron's network of wholesalers.

Chevron is the only brand of gas used by several automakers when testing vehicles, including General Motors and Toyota. (Ford does as well despite a strategic alliance with BP.) Chevron also has often had one of the highest brand loyalty rates for gasoline in America, with only Shell and BP (through Amoco) having equally high rates.

Chevron will be a significant backer in the Iraq Oil, Gas, Petrochemical & Electricity Summit, which will start on May 28 and end on May 30, told an Iraq Directory on April 17, 2007.[5]

Energy technologies

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The company also develops, and commercializes advanced energy technologies, including fuel cells, photovoltaics, and advanced batteries, and is active in research and development efforts to utilize hydrogen as a fuel for transport and power. Additionally, the company is investing in the field of nanotechnology, evaluating a new class of molecular building blocks that potentially may be useful in many industries.

Marketing Brands

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The typical Chevron gas station design that was used until 2006.
 
In 2006, Chevron began phasing in this gas station design.

Fuel

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Convenience Stores

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  • Star Mart
  • Extra Mile [6]

Lubricants

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  • Delo (sold by Caltex and Chevron)
  • Havoline (sold by Caltex and Texaco)
  • Revtex (sold by Caltex)
  • Ursa (sold by Texaco)

Fuel Additives

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  • Techron - Chevron, Texaco (phased in during 2005), Caltex (phased in during 2006 and later)
  • Clean System 3 - Texaco (phased out during 2005 in favor of Techron)

Promotional

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Board of directors

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As of April 2007 [7]:

Former members of the board of directors: Condoleezza Rice.

Articles from management

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David J. O'Reilly

Peter Robertson

John Gass

Environmental record

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Companies in the petroleum-based energy industry generally draw a wide range of criticism, and are often referred to as Big Oil. Because of the inelasticity of the demand of petroleum and the high risk nature of operations abroad, the companies involved in the industry have been accused of playing a large role in influencing economic and foreign policies in nations across the globe. Some criticism is directed at the industry in general, in that the burning of fossil fuels contributes to air pollution and global warming, and that extractive operations spoil natural landscapes. Large energy companies are often suspected of resisting alternative energy, for example buying patents to new technological advances to stop more energy efficient modes of transport.

Environmental advocates have asserted that Chevron Corporation in particular is responsible for severe ecological destruction. Texaco, which became part of Chevron in 2001, dumped over 18 billion gallons of toxic wastewater into the Amazon rainforests from 1964-1992, in what has become known as the “rainforest Chernobyl,” and is often considered one of the world’s worst ecological catastrophes.[2] [3] [4] Various Ecuadorian groups have sued Chevron for its activities, arguing it purposefully misrepresented its activities in the rainforest. Chevron’s attorneys maintain they are being victimized by profit-seeking plaintiffs. [5]

In the U.S., Chevron’s activities in Richmond, California have been the subject of ongoing controversy. Chevron’s Richmond operations house over 11 million pounds of toxic materials, and have been responsible for over 304 major toxic accidents. [6] For illegally bypassing wastewater treatments and failing to notify the public about toxic releases, Chevron’s Richmond refineries were forced to pay 540,000$ in 1998. [7] Overall, Chevron is responsible for ninety-five Superfund Sites—locations for which the EPA has earmarked funds for cleanup. [8] In October, 2003, the state of New Hampshire sued Chevron and other oil companies for using MTBE, a gasoline additive that the attorney general claimed polluted much of the state's water supply. [9]

Chevron’s African operations have also been criticized as environmentally unsound. [10] In 2002, Angola became the first African nation to ever fine a major multinational corporation operating in its own waters when it demanded 2 million dollars in compensation for oil spills allegedly caused by Chevron’s poor maintenance. [11]

Defenders of Chevron’s environmental record point to recent changes in the corporation, particularly its pledge, as of 2004, to combat global warming. [12]

Accusations of irresponsibility

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Chevron has been accused of not fulfilling its community responsibilities in Cabinda, Angola. Chevron's employees work in isolation in the Malongo terminal, which is protected by barbed wire fence and guarded gates because of security concerns. There is no interaction with the local people and the local market, because water, groceries and other commodities are imported duty free from overseas. In a survey Cabindans expressed their concern that the multi-billion oil industy has not improved their daily lives.[8]

See also

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General Information

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Environmental Efforts

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Equal opportunity

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  • Human Rights Campaign Foundation, One of 101 perfect score firms on Human Rights Campaign Foundation's (an organization working to achieve gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender equality) 4th annual report card[9]

Criticism

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