Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) 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.
History
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. As part of the merger,
Socal rebranded to become Chevron Corporation.[2]
In June 1998 Dynegy Inc. (NYSE: DYN) was created from the
merger of Chevron's former natural gas and natural gas liquids businesses with Dynegy's predecessor, NGC Corp. (formerly
NYSE: NGL). NGC had been an integrated natural gas services company around since 1994.[3]
In a merger completed February 1, 2000, Illinova Corp.
(formerly NYSE: ILN) became a wholly-owned
subsidiary of Dynegy Inc., in which Chevron also took a 28% stake.[3]
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. [4]
Overview
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]
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.[citation needed]Chevron Shipping Company is a wholly owned
subsidiary company which handles the maritime transport operation for Chevron Corporation. The fleet comprises crude oil and
product tankers as well as three gas tankers operated by Chevron Shipping for other companies. The fleet is divided into two
sections: The US fleet transports oil products from Chevron refineries to customers in the US. The ships are manned by US citizens and are flagged in the US. The
International fleet vessels are flagged in the Bahamas and have officers and crews from many
different nations. The largest ships are 308,000 tonne VLCCs. The job of the international
fleet is to transport crude oil from the oilfields to the refineries. The international fleet mans two LPG tankers and one LNG tanker.
Chevron ships originally had names beginning with "Chevron", such as the Chevron Washington and Chevron South America, or were
named after former or serving Directors of the company. Samuel Ginn, William E Crain and most notably Condoleezza Rice were amongst those honored, but controversy led to its being renamed Altair
Voyager.[5] All the ships were renamed in 2001 to reflect
the corporate merger with Texaco. The International fleet ships are all named after celestial
bodies or constellations (Orion Voyager, Altair Voyager etc) and the US ships are named after states (Washington Voyager,
Colorado Voyager etc).
Energy technologies
The company also develops, and commercializes advanced energy technologies, including fuel
cells, photovoltaics, and advanced batteries, and has said it is active in research
and development efforts to utilize hydrogen as a fuel for
transport and power.
Chevron is investing $300M USD a year into alternative fuel sources, and has
created a biofuels business unit. [6][7]
Environmental record
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.
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.[8] [9]
[10] 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. [11]
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 accidents. [12] 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. [13] Overall, Chevron is responsible
for ninety-five Superfund sites—locations for which the EPA has earmarked funds for cleanup.
[14] 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. [15]
Chevron’s African operations have also been criticized as environmentally unsound. [16] 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. [17]
Defenders of Chevron’s environmental record point to recent changes in the corporation, particularly its pledge, as of 2004,
to combat global warming. [18]
Abuse and Death of Nigerian Protesters
On May 28, 1998, as activists were staging a demonstration on an oil platform in the
Niger Delta, Nigeria, Nigerian police and soldiers, instead
of Chevron representatives (as the activists expected), were flown in with Chevron helicopters. Soldiers shot at the activists
and subsequently two activists (Jola Ogungbeje and Aroleka Irowaninu) died from their wounds [5]. The Nigerian
government is reportedly 80% dependent upon oil production and is condemned by many for its reported [6] treatment of
environmentalists. The documentary "Drilling and Killing" covers these and other
topics.
US District Judge Susan Illston, allowing a lawsuit brought by victims and victims'
families against Chevron to proceed, said that there is evidence that Chevron has hired, supervised, and provided transportation
to Nigerian military forces known for their "general history of committing abuses." [7]
Accusations of irresponsibility
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 dollar oil industy has not improved their daily lives.[8]
In 2003, it was revealed that the company had engaged in illegal trade with Iraq and had to pay a fourteen thousand dollar fine to the US government.
Board of directors
As of April 2007 [9]:
-
Condoleezza Rice is a former member of the board of directors, and also headed
Chevron's committee on public policy until she resigned on January 15, 2001, to become National Security Advisor to President
George W. Bush.
Marketing Brands
The typical Chevron gas station design that was used until 2006.
In 2006, Chevron began phasing in this gas station design.
Fuel
Convenience Stores
- Star Mart
- Extra Mile [10]
Lubricants
- Delo (sold by Caltex and Chevron)
- Havoline (sold by Caltex and Texaco)
- Revtex (sold by Caltex)
- Ursa (sold by Texaco)
Fuel Additives
- 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)
See also
References
- ^ Chevron Reports Fourth
quarter Net Income of $3.77 Billion, Down 9 Percent From $4.14 Billion in Fourth Quarter 2005. PR Newswire. Published
2007-02-02. Last Retrieved 2007-02-03.
- ^ http://www.chevron.com/products/learning%5Fcenter/history/time/1980-now/pg2.asp
- ^ a b CHEVRON CORP.
APPLAUDS DYNEGY-ILLINOVA MERGER, Chevron Press Release Archives, Feb. 2, 2000
- ^
"Chevron
claims energy debate", BBC News, 2006-02-19, <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4716334.stm>
- ^ Carla Marinucci. Chevron redubs ship named for Bush aide Condoleezza Rice drew too much attention. San Francisco Chronicle, May 5, 2001. Retrieved July 12, 2005.
- ^ [1]
- ^ [http://today.reuters.com/stocks/QuoteCompanyNewsArticle.aspx?view=PR&symbol=CVX.N&storyID=171064+31-May-2006+PRN
- ^ http://www.texacotoxico.org/eng/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=47&Itemid=53&PHPSESSID=52324ae33215c1944e30a4857b133e08
- ^ http://www.texacorainforest.org/
- ^ http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10B11FD395B0C738EDDA90994DD404482&n=Top%2fNews%2fBusiness%2fCompanies%2fChevron%20Corporation
- ^ http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/05/texaco200705
- ^ http://www.umich.edu/~snre492/sherman.html
- ^ http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/34cef4854b892b8b8525645a004de9a4/fb476240c30ba96b852570d8005e12e0!OpenDocument
- ^ http://www.coopamerica.org/programs/rs/profile.cfm?id=201
- ^ http://knowmore.org/index.php/Chevron_Texaco_Corporation
- ^ http://www.africaresource.com/content/view/46/68/
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/2077836.stm
- ^ http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/03/22/BUGKPHRTJ71.DTL&type=business
External links
General Information
Criticism
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
