WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.060 Welcome back to the Deep Dive. Today, we are 00:00:02.060 --> 00:00:05.240 taking on a true titan of the energy world, a 00:00:05.240 --> 00:00:07.620 company whose influence is felt in, well, just 00:00:07.620 --> 00:00:10.160 about every corner of the global economy. We're 00:00:10.160 --> 00:00:12.679 talking about Chevron Corporation. And this isn't 00:00:12.679 --> 00:00:14.720 just another energy company. It's an institution, 00:00:14.939 --> 00:00:18.399 really, with roots stretching back nearly 150 00:00:18.399 --> 00:00:20.899 years. And here's the hook that I think really 00:00:20.899 --> 00:00:24.239 frames this entire conversation. Since 2020, 00:00:24.620 --> 00:00:26.879 Chevron has been the last oil and gas company 00:00:26.879 --> 00:00:29.440 left in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Right. 00:00:29.899 --> 00:00:32.859 ExxonMobil got dropped. Chevron stayed. And that 00:00:32.859 --> 00:00:35.420 single fact, I mean, it just speaks volumes about 00:00:35.420 --> 00:00:37.460 its financial power, its strategic importance, 00:00:37.799 --> 00:00:41.259 and its sheer scale. We're talking about a company 00:00:41.259 --> 00:00:44.640 worth over $200 billion. So our mission today 00:00:44.640 --> 00:00:47.700 is to give you a really clear, impartial masterclass 00:00:47.700 --> 00:00:50.380 on how this behemoth actually works. We're going 00:00:50.380 --> 00:00:52.520 to trace its family tree right back to the famous 00:00:52.520 --> 00:00:54.600 Standard Oil breakup. And then we'll map out 00:00:54.600 --> 00:00:56.640 its modern global structure. I mean, how does 00:00:56.640 --> 00:00:59.079 it actually find, move, and then sell energy 00:00:59.079 --> 00:01:02.119 across the entire planet? Exactly. And we're 00:01:02.119 --> 00:01:04.040 going to dissect its biggest strategic moves, 00:01:04.219 --> 00:01:07.359 like the huge Hess acquisition, and also get 00:01:07.359 --> 00:01:10.549 into the... Well, the very significant legal 00:01:10.549 --> 00:01:12.709 and environmental battles it's constantly fighting. 00:01:12.810 --> 00:01:15.129 And this matters to you because honestly, if 00:01:15.129 --> 00:01:18.349 you understand how a vertically integrated super 00:01:18.349 --> 00:01:20.829 major like Chevron works, you get this crucial 00:01:20.829 --> 00:01:23.810 insight into global energy markets. It connects 00:01:23.810 --> 00:01:26.790 everything from climate debates to the real nature 00:01:26.790 --> 00:01:29.909 of high stakes corporate power and how that power 00:01:29.909 --> 00:01:32.430 can shape and sometimes even dictate international 00:01:32.430 --> 00:01:34.269 policy. So let's start at the very beginning. 00:01:34.620 --> 00:01:37.239 The birth of a titan in the American West. OK, 00:01:37.299 --> 00:01:39.579 so Chevron's story doesn't just start with the 00:01:39.579 --> 00:01:42.200 Standard Oil breakup. It's actually tied to the 00:01:42.200 --> 00:01:44.959 very beginning of the oil industry in California 00:01:44.959 --> 00:01:47.299 itself. How did that happen? You have to go all 00:01:47.299 --> 00:01:49.840 the way back to 1876. There had been some small 00:01:49.840 --> 00:01:52.500 discoveries before, but the moment everyone points 00:01:52.500 --> 00:01:55.659 to is when a company called Star Oil struck crude 00:01:55.659 --> 00:01:57.980 in the Pico Canyon oil field. Just north of Los 00:01:57.980 --> 00:02:00.319 Angeles. Right. And it wasn't a gusher. Not at 00:02:00.319 --> 00:02:03.730 first. Maybe 25 barrels a day. But that discovery 00:02:03.730 --> 00:02:07.549 is really seen as the start of the modern commercially 00:02:07.549 --> 00:02:10.330 viable oil industry in California. It's that 00:02:10.330 --> 00:02:13.349 classic aha moment that just snowballs into a 00:02:13.349 --> 00:02:16.090 whole industry. So Star Oil was the seed. It 00:02:16.090 --> 00:02:18.409 was. And the people who turned that seed into 00:02:18.409 --> 00:02:21.189 a real corporation were a group that included 00:02:21.189 --> 00:02:24.810 Charles N. Felton and Lloyd Tevis. They formed 00:02:24.810 --> 00:02:29.310 the Pacific Coast Oil Company. or PCOC, in 1879. 00:02:29.590 --> 00:02:32.069 Okay. They absorbed Star Oil and came in with 00:02:32.069 --> 00:02:34.030 some serious funding, a million dollars, which 00:02:34.030 --> 00:02:36.990 was a fortune back then. And very quickly, PCOC 00:02:36.990 --> 00:02:39.270 became the biggest oil company on the West Coast. 00:02:39.490 --> 00:02:41.610 And when you're the biggest player in a region, 00:02:41.750 --> 00:02:43.550 you eventually get the attention of the biggest 00:02:43.550 --> 00:02:45.430 player in the world. The Andi Rockefeller Standard 00:02:45.430 --> 00:02:47.789 Oil. Exactly. They couldn't ignore an asset that 00:02:47.789 --> 00:02:50.490 dominant. So in 1900, Standard Oil just acquired 00:02:50.490 --> 00:02:53.580 them. And then came the big one. The 1911 Supreme 00:02:53.580 --> 00:02:56.099 Court decision to break up the Standard Oil Trust, 00:02:56.360 --> 00:02:58.719 which just completely remade American business. 00:02:58.979 --> 00:03:01.580 And the West Coast assets of that trust were 00:03:01.580 --> 00:03:05.860 reorganized. A few years earlier, in 1906, PCOC 00:03:05.860 --> 00:03:08.159 had already become the Standard Oil Company, 00:03:08.340 --> 00:03:11.659 California. People just called it SoCal, or sometimes 00:03:11.659 --> 00:03:14.780 Calso. And that is the direct traceable ancestor 00:03:14.780 --> 00:03:16.800 of the Chevron we know today. That's the one. 00:03:16.939 --> 00:03:18.580 You know, we often talk about that breakup, but 00:03:18.580 --> 00:03:21.789 what was the actual... practical impact on SoCal. 00:03:21.889 --> 00:03:24.250 It wasn't just about splitting into 34 companies. 00:03:24.469 --> 00:03:26.810 No, it forced them to think differently. After 00:03:26.810 --> 00:03:29.689 the breakup, SoCal was legally restricted. They 00:03:29.689 --> 00:03:31.669 could only use the famous standard name in a 00:03:31.669 --> 00:03:34.270 few places. The Pacific Coast states, Nevada, 00:03:34.550 --> 00:03:36.909 and Arizona. So they couldn't just rely on that 00:03:36.909 --> 00:03:39.289 powerful legacy brand everywhere else. Right. 00:03:39.370 --> 00:03:41.490 That legal problem was actually a huge catalyst. 00:03:41.729 --> 00:03:44.469 It forced them to expand globally and create 00:03:44.469 --> 00:03:46.590 new brands and new identity. And that's where 00:03:46.590 --> 00:03:49.229 the name Chevron comes from. It is. The name 00:03:49.229 --> 00:03:50.990 itself was first used for some retail products 00:03:50.990 --> 00:03:54.150 back in the 1930s. And for a while, outside their 00:03:54.150 --> 00:03:56.370 home territory, they used the name Calso, too, 00:03:56.509 --> 00:04:00.539 from about 1946 to 1955. But no matter what they 00:04:00.539 --> 00:04:02.900 called themselves, their ambition was global. 00:04:03.259 --> 00:04:05.740 They quickly became one of the Seven Sisters. 00:04:06.039 --> 00:04:07.520 Seven Sisters. I mean, for those who don't know, 00:04:07.599 --> 00:04:10.080 this was a group of seven absolutely dominant 00:04:10.080 --> 00:04:12.580 petroleum companies that basically controlled 00:04:12.580 --> 00:04:15.199 the world's oil supply from the 40s through the 00:04:15.199 --> 00:04:18.519 70s. An incredible era of corporate power. And 00:04:18.519 --> 00:04:20.819 a huge part of that dominance was cemented by 00:04:20.819 --> 00:04:23.920 one single strategic move they made decades earlier. 00:04:24.560 --> 00:04:26.660 The Saudi Arabia connection. This is where you 00:04:26.660 --> 00:04:29.819 see corporate history just slam right into geopolitics. 00:04:29.839 --> 00:04:32.699 Yeah. In 1933, California Standard secured a 00:04:32.699 --> 00:04:34.819 massive concession in Saudi Arabia. That one 00:04:34.819 --> 00:04:37.480 deal changed everything. Not just for the company, 00:04:37.579 --> 00:04:39.519 but for the entire Middle East. It was pivotal. 00:04:39.660 --> 00:04:42.319 It led directly to the first big Saudi oil discovery 00:04:42.319 --> 00:04:46.149 in 1938. And then 10 years later, in 1948, they 00:04:46.149 --> 00:04:48.550 hit the jackpot. The Gawar Field. The Gawar Field, 00:04:48.709 --> 00:04:51.290 the largest conventional oil field in the world 00:04:51.290 --> 00:04:54.269 even today. And the subsidiary that ran all of 00:04:54.269 --> 00:04:56.329 this was eventually called the Arabian American 00:04:56.329 --> 00:05:00.790 Oil Company. Aramco. Aramco. So it was Chevron's 00:05:00.790 --> 00:05:04.350 ancestor, SoCal, that literally built the foundation 00:05:04.350 --> 00:05:07.550 for the modern Saudi oil state. And of course, 00:05:07.649 --> 00:05:10.350 Aramco was eventually fully nationalized by the 00:05:10.350 --> 00:05:13.230 Saudi government by 1980. It's just an incredible 00:05:13.230 --> 00:05:15.589 historical footprint for one company to have. 00:05:15.769 --> 00:05:18.170 It really is. But back on the domestic front, 00:05:18.329 --> 00:05:21.970 the company really grew by, well, you could call 00:05:21.970 --> 00:05:23.970 it merger mania. They just kept acquiring their 00:05:23.970 --> 00:05:26.350 competitors. The first really colossal one was 00:05:26.350 --> 00:05:29.750 in 1984. That was the deal for Pittsburgh -based 00:05:29.750 --> 00:05:32.470 Gulf Oil. And at the time, it was the largest 00:05:32.470 --> 00:05:35.089 corporate merger in history. The price was enormous, 00:05:35.310 --> 00:05:38.170 but it gave them huge reserves and a whole distribution 00:05:38.170 --> 00:05:40.449 network. And that's when they officially became 00:05:40.449 --> 00:05:43.209 Chevron Corporation. Exactly. That merger was 00:05:43.209 --> 00:05:45.769 the trigger. They finally retired the old SoCal 00:05:45.769 --> 00:05:48.350 name and adopted the retail brand they'd been 00:05:48.350 --> 00:05:51.110 building for 50 years. Which just set the stage 00:05:51.110 --> 00:05:53.810 for the next big wave of deals in the early 2000s. 00:05:53.829 --> 00:05:57.500 It did. In 2001, they bought Texaco for $45 billion. 00:05:58.459 --> 00:06:00.819 Now, Texaco was another old rival, and they already 00:06:00.819 --> 00:06:03.399 had history together. They'd formed a joint venture 00:06:03.399 --> 00:06:06.100 called Caltex back in the 30s. And the merger 00:06:06.100 --> 00:06:08.639 was so big, they actually renamed the whole company 00:06:08.639 --> 00:06:11.699 Chevron Texaco for a few years. From 2001 to 00:06:11.699 --> 00:06:14.949 2005, yeah. And I've read that... Back in the 00:06:14.949 --> 00:06:17.110 day, SoCal and Texaco were sometimes called the 00:06:17.110 --> 00:06:19.269 Terrible Twins. The Terrible Twins? For their 00:06:19.269 --> 00:06:21.709 aggressive business practices. So bringing them 00:06:21.709 --> 00:06:23.829 together, I mean, you can imagine the kind of 00:06:23.829 --> 00:06:25.610 corporate DNA they created. It was all about 00:06:25.610 --> 00:06:28.970 growth and hardball negotiations. And the shopping 00:06:28.970 --> 00:06:33.069 spree kept going. 2005, they bought Unocal. Right, 00:06:33.149 --> 00:06:35.589 for about $18 .4 billion. And this deal was really 00:06:35.589 --> 00:06:37.589 interesting because Unocal wasn't just about 00:06:37.589 --> 00:06:40.389 oil. It brought in these major assets in Southeast 00:06:40.389 --> 00:06:43.629 Asia. And that's not all it did. No. Critically, 00:06:43.709 --> 00:06:47.209 it boosted Chevron's proven reserves by about 00:06:47.209 --> 00:06:51.689 15 % overnight, and it made them a major global 00:06:51.689 --> 00:06:54.250 producer of geothermal energy. That's a theme 00:06:54.250 --> 00:06:56.370 we have to come back to, this tension between 00:06:56.370 --> 00:06:58.730 fossil fuels and their moves into alternative 00:06:58.730 --> 00:07:01.949 energy. For sure. But fast forward almost two 00:07:01.949 --> 00:07:04.110 decades, and they proved that their appetite 00:07:04.110 --> 00:07:06.670 for huge deals was still there. I'm talking about 00:07:06.670 --> 00:07:09.050 the 2023 deal for Hess Corporation. This one 00:07:09.050 --> 00:07:13.290 was huge. A $53 billion all stock deal. And it 00:07:13.290 --> 00:07:15.490 was laser focused. It wasn't just about getting 00:07:15.490 --> 00:07:18.610 bigger. It was about getting access to two really 00:07:18.610 --> 00:07:24.009 crucial things. new U .S. shale plays, and most 00:07:24.009 --> 00:07:27.569 importantly, Hess's big stake in the oil fields 00:07:27.569 --> 00:07:30.009 off the coast of Guyana. Guyana is one of the 00:07:30.009 --> 00:07:32.350 hottest oil exploration spots in the world right 00:07:32.350 --> 00:07:35.329 now. So this deal put Chevron right in the middle 00:07:35.329 --> 00:07:38.769 of a new boom. But it wasn't exactly a smooth 00:07:38.769 --> 00:07:41.240 process. Not at all. The Hess shareholders approved 00:07:41.240 --> 00:07:43.500 it, but then ExxonMobil, who was already a partner 00:07:43.500 --> 00:07:45.500 in Guyana, stepped in. What was their argument? 00:07:45.699 --> 00:07:47.740 They filed an arbitration claim. They argued 00:07:47.740 --> 00:07:50.939 they had the right of first refusal on Hess's 00:07:50.939 --> 00:07:53.319 shares in the Guyana project, basically saying, 00:07:53.339 --> 00:07:54.899 hey, we should have gotten the first shot at 00:07:54.899 --> 00:07:57.240 buying that. So you have two of the biggest supermajors 00:07:57.240 --> 00:07:59.220 on the planet fighting over this, holding up 00:07:59.220 --> 00:08:01.920 a $53 billion deal. It was a massive standoff. 00:08:01.980 --> 00:08:04.199 The arbitration dragged on, but eventually the 00:08:04.199 --> 00:08:07.790 regulators weighed in. In September 2024, the 00:08:07.790 --> 00:08:10.230 FTC, the Federal Trade Commission, they cleared 00:08:10.230 --> 00:08:12.980 the merger. But with a condition. A very important 00:08:12.980 --> 00:08:15.480 condition. They refused to allow the Hess CEO, 00:08:15.800 --> 00:08:18.379 John Hess, to take a seat on Chevron's board. 00:08:18.560 --> 00:08:21.480 It was a clear signal from the regulators about 00:08:21.480 --> 00:08:25.300 concerns over too much market consolidation and 00:08:25.300 --> 00:08:28.560 potential undue influence. So in the end, it 00:08:28.560 --> 00:08:31.439 was a very hard fought win for Chevron. OK, that 00:08:31.439 --> 00:08:33.779 history brings us right up to the modern Chevron. 00:08:33.899 --> 00:08:36.240 So now we need to look under the hood. How does 00:08:36.240 --> 00:08:39.990 this $200 billion engine actually run? And to 00:08:39.990 --> 00:08:42.129 do that, you have to understand its structure 00:08:42.129 --> 00:08:45.909 as a vertically integrated supermajor. Let's 00:08:45.909 --> 00:08:47.889 break that down for everyone. When we say vertically 00:08:47.889 --> 00:08:50.549 integrated, what does that mean in simple terms? 00:08:50.809 --> 00:08:53.129 It means they own the entire chain from start 00:08:53.129 --> 00:08:55.370 to finish. They don't just find the oil. They 00:08:55.370 --> 00:08:57.370 get it out of the ground. They move it. They 00:08:57.370 --> 00:08:59.830 refine it into gasoline and other products, and 00:08:59.830 --> 00:09:01.409 then they sell it to you at the pump. And that 00:09:01.409 --> 00:09:04.309 chain is broken into three parts, upstream, midstream, 00:09:04.429 --> 00:09:06.809 and downstream. Exactly. So let's start at the 00:09:06.809 --> 00:09:10.409 source, upstream. This is the high -risk, high 00:09:10.409 --> 00:09:12.549 -reward world of exploration and production. 00:09:12.830 --> 00:09:14.789 And their upstream footprint is just massive. 00:09:14.789 --> 00:09:18.429 It's enormous. On any given day, they're producing 00:09:18.429 --> 00:09:22.750 nearly 3 million barrels of oil equivalent. And 00:09:22.750 --> 00:09:25.190 while they're all over the globe, the two biggest 00:09:25.190 --> 00:09:29.090 hubs are North America, with about 1 .2 billion 00:09:29.090 --> 00:09:32.009 barrels of oil equivalent, and Eurasia, which 00:09:32.009 --> 00:09:35.259 is even bigger, at 1 .4 billion. And when you 00:09:35.259 --> 00:09:37.659 say North America, you really have to talk about 00:09:37.659 --> 00:09:39.940 the Permian Basin. It's the heart of the U .S. 00:09:39.980 --> 00:09:43.139 energy boom. The Permian is absolutely core to 00:09:43.139 --> 00:09:45.240 their operations. They have something like 11 00:09:45.240 --> 00:09:48.980 ,000 wells spread across 4 million acres of West 00:09:48.980 --> 00:09:51.039 Texas and New Mexico. And they're not new to 00:09:51.039 --> 00:09:53.090 the game there. Not at all. They're a legacy 00:09:53.090 --> 00:09:54.809 player. They were one of the original developers. 00:09:54.950 --> 00:09:57.230 In fact, they produced their five billionth barrel 00:09:57.230 --> 00:10:00.750 of oil from the Permian way back in 2011. Wow. 00:10:01.049 --> 00:10:03.309 And they're also pushing hard in deepwater exploration, 00:10:03.509 --> 00:10:05.850 mostly in the Gulf of Mexico, with these incredibly 00:10:05.850 --> 00:10:08.570 complex fields like Tahiti and Blind Faith. And 00:10:08.570 --> 00:10:11.009 that expansion is happening right now with projects 00:10:11.009 --> 00:10:13.549 like the new Anchor Field. Anchor Field is a 00:10:13.549 --> 00:10:15.529 perfect example of the scale we're talking about. 00:10:15.710 --> 00:10:20.210 It's a $5 .7 billion project in the deepwater 00:10:20.210 --> 00:10:23.320 Gulf. It just started producing oil in August 00:10:23.320 --> 00:10:26.419 2024. And what kind of output are we talking 00:10:26.419 --> 00:10:29.039 about? It's designed to pump 75 ,000 barrels 00:10:29.039 --> 00:10:32.320 of crude oil and 28 million cubic feet of natural 00:10:32.320 --> 00:10:36.360 gas every single day. I mean, the engineering 00:10:36.360 --> 00:10:39.000 challenges on these projects are just mind boggling. 00:10:39.080 --> 00:10:41.159 So outside of North America, some of their biggest 00:10:41.159 --> 00:10:43.730 bets are on natural gas, right? Especially in 00:10:43.730 --> 00:10:46.190 Australia. Yeah. Australia is home to their largest 00:10:46.190 --> 00:10:49.129 single projects in the entire world. You have 00:10:49.129 --> 00:10:52.190 the Gorgon Gas Project, which costs $43 billion. 00:10:52.570 --> 00:10:55.230 $43 billion. And then right next door, you have 00:10:55.230 --> 00:10:58.049 the Wheatstone LNG development, another $29 billion 00:10:58.049 --> 00:11:00.529 project. These aren't just supplying Australia. 00:11:00.889 --> 00:11:04.370 They are fundamental to the LNG supply for all 00:11:04.370 --> 00:11:07.980 of Asia. And Gorgon has become this. this real 00:11:07.980 --> 00:11:11.039 focal point in the climate debate because Chevron 00:11:11.039 --> 00:11:13.639 is trying to pivot toward carbon capture. That's 00:11:13.639 --> 00:11:16.159 right. They're spending a lot of money to try 00:11:16.159 --> 00:11:18.179 and capture the CO2 that's produced with the 00:11:18.179 --> 00:11:20.789 gas and then inject it deep underground. It's 00:11:20.789 --> 00:11:22.970 a huge technical challenge. And the big question 00:11:22.970 --> 00:11:26.110 is, you know, is it a genuine commitment to decarbonization 00:11:26.110 --> 00:11:29.570 or is it more of a regulatory move to justify 00:11:29.570 --> 00:11:31.929 continuing this massive gas production? That 00:11:31.929 --> 00:11:34.429 is the multi -billion dollar question. Either 00:11:34.429 --> 00:11:37.690 way, the scale of the technology is just... It's 00:11:37.690 --> 00:11:39.649 breathtaking. And they're still huge in their 00:11:39.649 --> 00:11:42.210 legacy regions, too. Kazakhstan, West Africa. 00:11:42.690 --> 00:11:45.090 Absolutely. Kazakhstan is vital. They're involved 00:11:45.090 --> 00:11:48.269 in the giant Tengiz and Karachikanak projects. 00:11:48.470 --> 00:11:50.929 In West Africa, they're big in Angola, and they 00:11:50.929 --> 00:11:53.070 have a major joint venture in the Niger Delta 00:11:53.070 --> 00:11:56.009 in Nigeria. These are the places where you see 00:11:56.009 --> 00:11:58.610 the real geopolitical risk involved in securing 00:11:58.610 --> 00:12:00.610 the world's energy supply. So once you have all 00:12:00.610 --> 00:12:02.610 that oil and gas, you have to move it. And that 00:12:02.610 --> 00:12:05.389 brings us to the midstream segment, transport. 00:12:05.669 --> 00:12:07.940 Right. And historically, this was actually a 00:12:07.940 --> 00:12:10.419 part of the chain that Chevron didn't focus on 00:12:10.419 --> 00:12:12.419 owning as much as its rivals did. They used a 00:12:12.419 --> 00:12:14.299 lot of third party pipelines. But that's changed. 00:12:14.539 --> 00:12:17.980 It changed in a big way in 2021 when they bought 00:12:17.980 --> 00:12:20.700 Noble Midstream Partners. This was a very deliberate 00:12:20.700 --> 00:12:24.539 move to complete their vertical integration puzzle. 00:12:24.679 --> 00:12:27.139 So what did Noble give them that they needed 00:12:27.139 --> 00:12:30.580 so badly? It gave them control, total control 00:12:30.580 --> 00:12:33.299 over getting the crude from the well to the refinery. 00:12:33.659 --> 00:12:36.799 They got pipelines and gathering assets right 00:12:36.799 --> 00:12:39.720 in the heart of the Permian and DJ basins. It's 00:12:39.720 --> 00:12:42.139 all about efficiency. No more paying a middleman. 00:12:42.320 --> 00:12:44.379 Exactly. You control the flow. You control the 00:12:44.379 --> 00:12:46.440 cost. You buffer yourself from price swings. 00:12:46.620 --> 00:12:49.200 It cements that full cycle control. And for getting 00:12:49.200 --> 00:12:51.480 it across the oceans, they have their own fleet, 00:12:51.620 --> 00:12:54.500 the Chevron Shipping Company. They do, and as 00:12:54.500 --> 00:12:56.960 a fun little detail, the ships are often named 00:12:56.960 --> 00:12:59.360 after company directors. One of them was famously 00:12:59.360 --> 00:13:02.159 named after Condoleezza Rice, who was on their 00:13:02.159 --> 00:13:03.960 board for a long time. I remember that. They 00:13:03.960 --> 00:13:06.259 renamed it later, didn't they? They did. It's 00:13:06.259 --> 00:13:08.500 now the Altair Voyager. Okay, so that brings 00:13:08.500 --> 00:13:11.039 us to the final piece downstream. This is the 00:13:11.039 --> 00:13:13.059 part we all see. The refineries, the chemicals, 00:13:13.179 --> 00:13:15.919 the gas stations. This is the final link in the 00:13:15.919 --> 00:13:19.899 chain. Chevron has five active refineries in 00:13:19.899 --> 00:13:22.639 the U .S., including massive ones in Richmond 00:13:22.639 --> 00:13:25.320 and El Segundo in California. They also have 00:13:25.320 --> 00:13:27.240 partnerships in seven other refineries around 00:13:27.240 --> 00:13:29.440 the world in places like Singapore and South 00:13:29.440 --> 00:13:31.919 Korea. And the chemical business? That's mostly 00:13:31.919 --> 00:13:34.779 handled through a 50 -50 joint venture with Phillips 00:13:34.779 --> 00:13:38.539 66. It's called Chevron Phillips Chemical, or 00:13:38.539 --> 00:13:41.669 CP Chem. And it's a giant in its own right, making 00:13:41.669 --> 00:13:44.169 plastics, industrial chemicals, all sorts of 00:13:44.169 --> 00:13:46.429 things. But the most public face is obviously 00:13:46.429 --> 00:13:48.909 the gas stations. And the branding there is, 00:13:48.929 --> 00:13:50.529 well, it's a bit of a mess because of all the 00:13:50.529 --> 00:13:52.490 history we talked about. It's a mix of names 00:13:52.490 --> 00:13:55.070 for sure. The main brand in the U .S. is, of 00:13:55.070 --> 00:13:57.990 course, Chevron. There are almost 7 ,000 of them, 00:13:58.009 --> 00:14:01.090 mostly on the West Coast, in the South, and Texas. 00:14:01.350 --> 00:14:02.809 And they have the world's largest one, right? 00:14:02.850 --> 00:14:05.269 They do. At a place called Terrible's Roadhouse 00:14:05.269 --> 00:14:08.100 in Nevada. It's a gigantic facility. And then 00:14:08.100 --> 00:14:10.720 you still see the Texaco brand around. Yep. About 00:14:10.720 --> 00:14:13.679 1 ,300 locations still use the Texaco name, mostly 00:14:13.679 --> 00:14:16.539 in the South. And then internationally, the big 00:14:16.539 --> 00:14:19.320 brand is Caltex. That's the one you see all over 00:14:19.320 --> 00:14:22.299 Asia and Africa. Right. But even that has been 00:14:22.299 --> 00:14:25.080 complicated. They actually sold their stake in 00:14:25.080 --> 00:14:27.820 Caltex, Australia back in 2015. But then they 00:14:27.820 --> 00:14:30.230 came back. They did. They must have realized 00:14:30.230 --> 00:14:32.490 it was a mistake to leave that market. So they 00:14:32.490 --> 00:14:34.970 bought another company's assets and then relaunched 00:14:34.970 --> 00:14:37.730 the Caltex brand there in 2022. It just shows 00:14:37.730 --> 00:14:39.730 how aggressive they are about market access. 00:14:39.970 --> 00:14:42.409 The scale of everything we just talked about, 00:14:42.570 --> 00:14:45.549 it just requires an unbelievable amount of money. 00:14:45.850 --> 00:14:48.370 Which brings us to their financial picture and 00:14:48.370 --> 00:14:51.009 some of the huge strategic shifts they've made 00:14:51.009 --> 00:14:54.889 recently, starting with 2022. 2022 was a wild 00:14:54.889 --> 00:14:57.600 year for the whole energy sector. After Russia 00:14:57.600 --> 00:15:00.820 invaded Ukraine, oil prices just skyrocketed. 00:15:00.820 --> 00:15:03.419 And for Chevron, that meant record revenues of 00:15:03.419 --> 00:15:08.179 $246 billion. And profits. Record profits, $36 00:15:08.179 --> 00:15:11.080 .5 billion. I mean, they were just swimming in 00:15:11.080 --> 00:15:13.480 cash. And what a company does with that kind 00:15:13.480 --> 00:15:16.720 of windfall, that's where things got really controversial. 00:15:17.120 --> 00:15:20.000 It was a defining moment. Just days after announcing 00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:22.980 those massive profits, Chevron announced a $75 00:15:22.980 --> 00:15:26.379 billion... stock buyback program. $75 billion. 00:15:26.500 --> 00:15:28.700 And they increased their dividend. And the response, 00:15:28.940 --> 00:15:30.960 especially from the Biden administration, was 00:15:30.960 --> 00:15:34.100 immediate and very heated. The criticism was 00:15:34.100 --> 00:15:36.179 pretty straightforward, right? Why are you giving 00:15:36.179 --> 00:15:38.360 all this money back to shareholders instead of, 00:15:38.399 --> 00:15:41.019 say, increasing production to lower prices at 00:15:41.019 --> 00:15:42.960 the pump or investing it all in clean energy? 00:15:43.200 --> 00:15:45.840 That was exactly the argument. But Chevron's 00:15:45.840 --> 00:15:48.580 move gave a really clear window into their strategy. 00:15:48.840 --> 00:15:51.639 They were prioritizing returning cash to shareholders 00:15:51.639 --> 00:15:55.100 over massive new spending on exploration or refining. 00:15:55.200 --> 00:15:59.379 For critics, that $75 billion buyback was proof 00:15:59.379 --> 00:16:01.399 that the industry was focused on short -term 00:16:01.399 --> 00:16:03.659 rewards. And what's even more striking is that 00:16:03.659 --> 00:16:05.919 at the same time, they were planning to cut their 00:16:05.919 --> 00:16:08.600 workforce. It really underscores that relentless 00:16:08.600 --> 00:16:12.259 focus on efficiency. In early 2025, they announced 00:16:12.259 --> 00:16:15.100 plans to cut 20 percent of their workforce by 00:16:15.100 --> 00:16:18.500 the end of 2026. The goal was to slash payroll 00:16:18.500 --> 00:16:21.659 by two to three billion dollars. So record profits, 00:16:21.980 --> 00:16:24.960 huge shareholder payouts and deep job cuts all 00:16:24.960 --> 00:16:26.820 happening at once. It's the cycle of a super 00:16:26.820 --> 00:16:29.299 major trying to please the capital markets. And 00:16:29.299 --> 00:16:31.840 speaking of big strategic shifts, maybe the most 00:16:31.840 --> 00:16:34.360 symbolic one in their entire history was the 00:16:34.360 --> 00:16:37.059 decision to leave California and move their headquarters 00:16:37.059 --> 00:16:40.220 to Texas. I mean, this was huge. Chevron had 00:16:40.220 --> 00:16:42.720 been headquartered in California since 1879. 00:16:42.840 --> 00:16:46.159 But starting in 2022, they sold off their massive 00:16:46.159 --> 00:16:48.620 campus in San Ramon and started shifting everything 00:16:48.620 --> 00:16:51.379 to Houston. And they made it official in August 00:16:51.379 --> 00:16:54.700 2024. Yep. The full move to Houston was set for 00:16:54.700 --> 00:16:58.649 January 2025. And their CEO, Mike Wirth. was 00:16:58.649 --> 00:17:01.600 very public about why. He said that California's 00:17:01.600 --> 00:17:03.740 regulations were discouraging investment. So 00:17:03.740 --> 00:17:05.880 it wasn't just about saving money. No, it was 00:17:05.880 --> 00:17:07.960 a political statement. It was a symbolic rejection 00:17:07.960 --> 00:17:10.940 of California's climate policies and a huge bet 00:17:10.940 --> 00:17:13.380 on the legal and political environment in Texas 00:17:13.380 --> 00:17:15.980 as the future of American energy. And moving 00:17:15.980 --> 00:17:19.019 from domestic politics to global ones, Chevron 00:17:19.019 --> 00:17:21.700 is always walking this tightrope in geopolitical 00:17:21.700 --> 00:17:24.420 hotspots, and there's no relationship more complicated 00:17:24.420 --> 00:17:27.059 than the one with Venezuela. Venezuela is a complete 00:17:27.059 --> 00:17:29.319 roller coaster, and it's all dictated by whatever 00:17:29.319 --> 00:17:31.569 the policy is in Washington, D .C. Because of 00:17:31.569 --> 00:17:33.869 the sanctions on the Maduro regime? Exactly. 00:17:34.109 --> 00:17:36.230 For years, their operations were severely restricted. 00:17:36.670 --> 00:17:40.490 But then in 2022, the Biden administration relaxed 00:17:40.490 --> 00:17:42.789 some of those restrictions. And what was the 00:17:42.789 --> 00:17:45.869 idea behind that? The thinking was it could help 00:17:45.869 --> 00:17:49.690 stabilize global oil supplies and maybe use Chevron 00:17:49.690 --> 00:17:52.069 as a sort of go between. Right. But the rules 00:17:52.069 --> 00:17:54.789 were really strict. How so? Chevron could pump 00:17:54.789 --> 00:17:56.829 the oil, but they couldn't sell it to anyone 00:17:56.829 --> 00:18:00.240 connected to Russia or Iran. And most importantly, 00:18:00.440 --> 00:18:02.960 none of the profits could go directly to the 00:18:02.960 --> 00:18:06.220 Venezuelan state oil company, PDVSA. So Chevron 00:18:06.220 --> 00:18:08.200 was basically just acting as a debt collector. 00:18:08.559 --> 00:18:10.519 That's a good way to put it. They were recouping 00:18:10.519 --> 00:18:12.460 money they were owed. But then, of course, the 00:18:12.460 --> 00:18:14.779 pendulum swung back. Right. In February 2025, 00:18:15.279 --> 00:18:17.519 the Trump administration came in and revoked 00:18:17.519 --> 00:18:19.940 their license completely. All operations had 00:18:19.940 --> 00:18:22.019 to stop. But then it changed again. Just six 00:18:22.019 --> 00:18:24.779 months later, in August 2025. They got a new 00:18:24.779 --> 00:18:27.079 license from the Treasury and resumed exports 00:18:27.079 --> 00:18:30.279 to the U .S. almost immediately. It just shows 00:18:30.279 --> 00:18:32.579 how Chevron can be used as a tool of U .S. foreign 00:18:32.579 --> 00:18:35.559 policy, switched on and off. And sometimes they 00:18:35.559 --> 00:18:37.900 have to leave a country entirely, not because 00:18:37.900 --> 00:18:41.119 of policy, but because of ethics, like in Myanmar. 00:18:41.339 --> 00:18:43.460 Yeah, in January 2022, Chevron announced they 00:18:43.460 --> 00:18:46.099 were pulling out of Myanmar. They cited the rampant 00:18:46.099 --> 00:18:48.720 human rights abuses and the collapse of the rule 00:18:48.720 --> 00:18:51.119 of law after the military coup there. We've even 00:18:51.119 --> 00:18:53.859 seen their operations get hit by protests. Like 00:18:53.859 --> 00:18:56.500 in Kazakhstan. That was in January 2022. There 00:18:56.500 --> 00:18:58.900 were massive protests across Kazakhstan because 00:18:58.900 --> 00:19:01.579 of rising jewel prices. And Chevron had to temporarily 00:19:01.579 --> 00:19:05.279 cut production at their huge Tengiz Field. It's 00:19:05.279 --> 00:19:07.720 a reminder that this massive global supply chain 00:19:07.720 --> 00:19:10.259 can be really fragile at the local level. So 00:19:10.259 --> 00:19:12.180 to wrap all of this complexity up, they have 00:19:12.180 --> 00:19:14.180 their corporate slogan, which they launched back 00:19:14.180 --> 00:19:16.980 in 2007. The Human Energy Company. The Human 00:19:16.980 --> 00:19:19.539 Energy Company. That's very intentional, obviously. 00:19:19.900 --> 00:19:23.319 It's meant to project this positive spirit. But 00:19:23.319 --> 00:19:25.119 as we get into their investments in alternative 00:19:25.119 --> 00:19:28.039 energy and contrast that with their environmental 00:19:28.039 --> 00:19:30.759 controversies, you really have to ask what human 00:19:30.759 --> 00:19:33.859 energy means and what its real price is. OK, 00:19:33.920 --> 00:19:37.599 let's pivot now to how Chevron is trying to position 00:19:37.599 --> 00:19:40.240 itself for the future. I mean, they are obviously 00:19:40.240 --> 00:19:43.220 a fossil fuel giant, but they're also making 00:19:43.220 --> 00:19:45.579 some pretty significant investments in alternative 00:19:45.579 --> 00:19:48.339 energy. They are. And their history here is actually 00:19:48.339 --> 00:19:51.140 pretty complex. They've been involved in geothermal, 00:19:51.299 --> 00:19:55.119 solar, biofuels, hydrogen. A bit of everything. 00:19:55.319 --> 00:19:57.759 And it's important to remember, after they bought 00:19:57.759 --> 00:20:01.059 UNOCAL in 2005, Chevron was, for a time, the 00:20:01.059 --> 00:20:03.279 world's largest producer of geothermal energy. 00:20:04.029 --> 00:20:05.890 If they were the world's largest, why did they 00:20:05.890 --> 00:20:08.549 sell off those big geothermal assets in 2017? 00:20:08.849 --> 00:20:11.609 That seems to go against the idea of moving toward 00:20:11.609 --> 00:20:14.089 a lower carbon future. And that is the central 00:20:14.089 --> 00:20:16.549 paradox of their strategy. They sold them partly 00:20:16.549 --> 00:20:19.349 because geothermal, while it is low carbon, just 00:20:19.349 --> 00:20:21.890 doesn't offer the same high returns as a successful 00:20:21.890 --> 00:20:23.930 oil and gas project. It's a different financial 00:20:23.930 --> 00:20:26.369 model. So they divested from that, but they're 00:20:26.369 --> 00:20:29.069 still active in other renewables. They are, and 00:20:29.069 --> 00:20:30.970 often in ways that actually support their existing 00:20:30.970 --> 00:20:33.269 oil and gas operations. What's an example of 00:20:33.269 --> 00:20:35.609 that? Well, back in 2011, they launched this 00:20:35.609 --> 00:20:39.769 huge 29 megawatt solar to steam facility. But 00:20:39.769 --> 00:20:42.210 it wasn't to sell electricity to the grid. It 00:20:42.210 --> 00:20:44.289 was for what they call enhanced oil recovery. 00:20:44.589 --> 00:20:46.769 Exactly. They were using the steam generated 00:20:46.769 --> 00:20:49.569 by solar power to make it easier to extract heavy 00:20:49.569 --> 00:20:52.069 oil from the ground. So you're using solar power 00:20:52.069 --> 00:20:54.740 to produce more oil more efficiently. That makes 00:20:54.740 --> 00:20:57.000 perfect sense. You're lowering the carbon intensity 00:20:57.000 --> 00:20:58.980 of your production, but you're not actually replacing 00:20:58.980 --> 00:21:01.640 the oil itself. Right. But they are also making 00:21:01.640 --> 00:21:05.299 some very long -term frontier tech bets, like 00:21:05.299 --> 00:21:07.799 fusion power. Fusion. Yeah. In the last few years, 00:21:07.839 --> 00:21:09.799 they've taken investment stakes in two different 00:21:09.799 --> 00:21:13.019 fusion power companies, Zap Energy and Terrier 00:21:13.019 --> 00:21:15.579 Technologies. And they're also clearly serious 00:21:15.579 --> 00:21:18.710 about hydrogen. In 2023, they bought a majority 00:21:18.710 --> 00:21:21.170 stake in a hydrogen storage facility in Utah 00:21:21.170 --> 00:21:23.490 that's set to be the world's largest. And very 00:21:23.490 --> 00:21:25.430 recently, they've moved into the battery supply 00:21:25.430 --> 00:21:28.450 chain with their first lithium project. That 00:21:28.450 --> 00:21:31.170 was announced in 2025. They acquired a huge amount 00:21:31.170 --> 00:21:33.369 of land in Texas and Arkansas to go after lithium 00:21:33.369 --> 00:21:36.970 that's found in brine deep underground in a geological 00:21:36.970 --> 00:21:39.309 layer called the Smackover Formation. So they're 00:21:39.309 --> 00:21:41.549 trying to become a full spectrum energy company, 00:21:41.670 --> 00:21:44.329 not just oil and gas. That seems to be the long 00:21:44.329 --> 00:21:47.190 term goal. But no matter how much they invest 00:21:47.190 --> 00:21:50.109 to these new technologies, you just can't ignore 00:21:50.109 --> 00:21:53.130 the immense climate impact of their core business 00:21:53.130 --> 00:21:55.650 over the decades. And the numbers are just staggering. 00:21:55.910 --> 00:21:58.970 They're stark. Over its entire history, Chevron 00:21:58.970 --> 00:22:03.089 has produced something like 58 ,598 million tons 00:22:03.089 --> 00:22:06.210 of carbon dioxide. Which puts them under intense 00:22:06.210 --> 00:22:08.670 regulatory pressure. And leads to major fines. 00:22:09.200 --> 00:22:12.460 Like the one their joint venture, CPHM, got hit 00:22:12.460 --> 00:22:15.539 with in 2022 for violating the Clean Air Act. 00:22:15.680 --> 00:22:18.319 How much was that? It was a $118 million penalty. 00:22:18.680 --> 00:22:21.039 It was because they weren't properly flaring 00:22:21.039 --> 00:22:23.599 excess gases at three of their plants in Texas, 00:22:23.720 --> 00:22:26.119 which led to a lot of extra air pollution. And 00:22:26.119 --> 00:22:27.960 the irony is that all of their infrastructure, 00:22:28.440 --> 00:22:31.779 their refineries, their offshore platforms, they're 00:22:31.779 --> 00:22:34.180 all vulnerable to the extreme weather that's 00:22:34.180 --> 00:22:36.180 linked to climate change. It's a negative feedback 00:22:36.180 --> 00:22:38.339 loop. They even acknowledge it in their own risk 00:22:38.339 --> 00:22:42.569 reports. Hurricanes. Flooding. It all threatens 00:22:42.569 --> 00:22:45.490 their assets and drives up their costs. Which 00:22:45.490 --> 00:22:48.089 brings us to probably the most complex and controversial 00:22:48.089 --> 00:22:51.390 part of Chevron's entire legacy, the environmental 00:22:51.390 --> 00:22:54.829 disaster in Lago Agrio, Ecuador, which they inherited 00:22:54.829 --> 00:22:57.490 when they bought Texaco. This case is often called 00:22:57.490 --> 00:23:00.160 the Amazon Chernobyl. And it's just a defining 00:23:00.160 --> 00:23:03.220 story in corporate accountability. From the 60s 00:23:03.220 --> 00:23:06.240 to the 90s, Texaco was operating in the Ecuadorian 00:23:06.240 --> 00:23:09.140 Amazon, and critics accused them of systematically 00:23:09.140 --> 00:23:12.519 dumping billions of gallons of toxic waste and 00:23:12.519 --> 00:23:15.339 crude oil directly into the rainforest. And the 00:23:15.339 --> 00:23:17.579 impact on the local and indigenous communities 00:23:17.579 --> 00:23:20.740 there was just devastating. It destroyed the 00:23:20.740 --> 00:23:23.380 environment and caused widespread severe health 00:23:23.380 --> 00:23:25.779 problems for people who were drinking and bathing 00:23:25.779 --> 00:23:29.180 in poison water. And after decades of legal battles, 00:23:29.319 --> 00:23:32.400 an Ecuadorian court found Chevron liable in 2011. 00:23:32.720 --> 00:23:35.640 And ordered them to pay how much? $9 .5 billion 00:23:35.640 --> 00:23:39.660 in damages. A $9 .5 billion judgment. How does 00:23:39.660 --> 00:23:41.819 a company like Chevron respond to that? They 00:23:41.819 --> 00:23:44.940 refused to pay a single cent. They moved all 00:23:44.940 --> 00:23:47.480 of their assets out of Ecuador and launched one 00:23:47.480 --> 00:23:50.339 of the most aggressive corporate legal counterattacks 00:23:50.339 --> 00:23:53.440 you will ever see. They famously vowed to fight 00:23:53.440 --> 00:23:56.839 it until hell freezes over. And the main target 00:23:56.839 --> 00:23:59.119 of that counterattack was the American lawyer 00:23:59.119 --> 00:24:01.839 who represented the Ecuadorians, Stephen Donziger. 00:24:02.160 --> 00:24:04.539 The legal war against Donziger is what really 00:24:04.539 --> 00:24:07.859 stands out. Chevron filed a racketeering lawsuit 00:24:07.859 --> 00:24:10.440 against him in the U .S., claiming the entire 00:24:10.440 --> 00:24:13.420 Ecuadorian judgment was based on fraud. And in 00:24:13.420 --> 00:24:16.400 2018, an international tribunal in The Hague 00:24:16.400 --> 00:24:19.359 actually ruled in Chevron's favor. But there's 00:24:19.359 --> 00:24:21.240 a huge asterisk on that ruling, isn't there? 00:24:21.259 --> 00:24:24.099 A massive one. A key witness that Chevron used 00:24:24.099 --> 00:24:26.319 against Donziger, a man named Alberto Guerra, 00:24:26.559 --> 00:24:28.880 later admitted under oath that Chevron had paid 00:24:28.880 --> 00:24:31.039 him over a million dollars and coached him for 00:24:31.039 --> 00:24:33.339 50 days to give false testimony. So the star 00:24:33.339 --> 00:24:36.019 witness admitted he lied after being paid. Essentially, 00:24:36.059 --> 00:24:38.980 yes. But the U .S. legal system's response to 00:24:38.980 --> 00:24:42.519 Donziger himself was, well, critics call it unprecedented. 00:24:42.980 --> 00:24:45.640 A judge ordered Donziger to turn over his computer 00:24:45.640 --> 00:24:49.269 and his phone. He refused. citing attorney -client 00:24:49.269 --> 00:24:52.529 privilege. The judge then hit him with criminal 00:24:52.529 --> 00:24:55.589 contempt charges. Okay. But here's where it gets 00:24:55.589 --> 00:24:57.829 really chilling. The U .S. Attorney's Office 00:24:57.829 --> 00:25:01.049 declined to prosecute the case. So the judge 00:25:01.049 --> 00:25:03.809 appointed a private law firm to prosecute Donziger 00:25:03.809 --> 00:25:06.549 in the court's name. And that private law firm? 00:25:06.650 --> 00:25:08.650 Had previously represented Chevron. Wait, let 00:25:08.650 --> 00:25:11.019 me just... I want to be clear on this. A private 00:25:11.019 --> 00:25:13.460 law firm that had worked for Chevron was appointed 00:25:13.460 --> 00:25:16.019 by a judge to criminally prosecute the lawyer 00:25:16.019 --> 00:25:18.940 who had just won a multi -billion dollar case 00:25:18.940 --> 00:25:21.380 against Chevron? That is correct. The outcome 00:25:21.380 --> 00:25:23.299 was that Donziger was put under house arrest 00:25:23.299 --> 00:25:27.759 for 993 days and was eventually convicted. Critics 00:25:27.759 --> 00:25:29.700 argue his sentence was longer than the legal 00:25:29.700 --> 00:25:32.480 maximum for that kind of offense. He was disbarred. 00:25:32.480 --> 00:25:34.619 His assets were frozen. It sounds like they were 00:25:34.619 --> 00:25:36.839 trying to make an example out of him. The argument 00:25:36.839 --> 00:25:39.559 from critics is that Chevron used its bottomless 00:25:39.559 --> 00:25:42.400 financial and legal power to crush him and to 00:25:42.400 --> 00:25:44.039 send a message to anyone else who might think 00:25:44.039 --> 00:25:46.099 about challenging them in court. That is just 00:25:46.099 --> 00:25:48.000 a staggering story. And that kind of disparity 00:25:48.000 --> 00:25:50.460 exists even here in the U .S., right? in Los 00:25:50.460 --> 00:25:52.559 Angeles with their urban drilling operation. 00:25:52.880 --> 00:25:55.259 It's real contrast. Critics point out that in 00:25:55.259 --> 00:25:57.720 lower income areas of L .A., you have active 00:25:57.720 --> 00:26:00.440 oil wells right next to homes and schools. But 00:26:00.440 --> 00:26:02.880 in wealthy areas like Beverly Hills, the drilling 00:26:02.880 --> 00:26:05.380 operations are hidden inside these big windowless 00:26:05.380 --> 00:26:07.380 buildings, like the one at Beverly Hills High 00:26:07.380 --> 00:26:09.839 School they call the Tower of Hope. Out of sight, 00:26:09.940 --> 00:26:12.730 out of mind. And beyond just hiding them, critics 00:26:12.730 --> 00:26:15.609 accuse them of improperly abandoning old wells, 00:26:15.809 --> 00:26:18.410 leaving behind toxic sites that pose ongoing 00:26:18.410 --> 00:26:21.549 health risks to nearby residents. It's cited 00:26:21.549 --> 00:26:25.009 as evidence of a pattern. Maximize profit, minimize 00:26:25.009 --> 00:26:27.509 cleanup costs, and use your legal power to fight 00:26:27.509 --> 00:26:30.029 anyone who complains. Hashtag tag tag outro. 00:26:30.369 --> 00:26:32.750 Wow, this has been a truly monumental deep dive. 00:26:32.930 --> 00:26:34.970 We've traded Chevron all the way back to Star 00:26:34.970 --> 00:26:37.950 Oil in SoCal, watched it become a seven -sister 00:26:37.950 --> 00:26:40.569 that laid the groundwork for Saudi Aramco, and 00:26:40.569 --> 00:26:42.569 tracked its growth through these landscape -changing 00:26:42.569 --> 00:26:46.029 acquisitions. Golf, Texaco, Unocal, and of course 00:26:46.029 --> 00:26:49.349 the huge, hard -fought $53 billion deal for Hess. 00:26:49.819 --> 00:26:52.559 And we've dissected this breathtakingly massive 00:26:52.559 --> 00:26:55.099 vertical engine that dominates everything from 00:26:55.099 --> 00:26:58.460 the Permian Basin to Australian LNG. A scale 00:26:58.460 --> 00:27:01.079 that was really captured by those record $36 00:27:01.079 --> 00:27:05.839 .5 billion in profits in 2022 and that immediately 00:27:05.839 --> 00:27:10.660 controversial $75 billion stock buyback. A move 00:27:10.660 --> 00:27:13.500 that was then underscored by the symbolic decision 00:27:13.500 --> 00:27:15.700 to move their entire headquarters to Houston. 00:27:16.109 --> 00:27:17.930 And we really tried to connect the dots on this 00:27:17.930 --> 00:27:20.490 deep, contradictory relationship they have with 00:27:20.490 --> 00:27:22.890 the climate and with communities. On one side, 00:27:22.950 --> 00:27:24.789 you have these forward -looking investments in 00:27:24.789 --> 00:27:27.890 solar, hydrogen, fusion power, even lithium in 00:27:27.890 --> 00:27:29.450 the smack -over formation. And on the other, 00:27:29.490 --> 00:27:31.950 you have major fines for Clean Air Act violations 00:27:31.950 --> 00:27:35.529 and this decades -long devastating legacy of 00:27:35.529 --> 00:27:38.750 the Lago Agrio contamination, a $9 .5 billion 00:27:38.750 --> 00:27:41.450 judgment they fought with a legal campaign that 00:27:41.450 --> 00:27:43.900 included the... Well, the unprecedented prosecution 00:27:43.900 --> 00:27:46.200 of the plaintiff's lawyer, Steven Donziger. It 00:27:46.200 --> 00:27:48.339 really forces you to synthesize these two opposing 00:27:48.339 --> 00:27:51.720 ideas. It does. Their slogan is the human energy 00:27:51.720 --> 00:27:54.579 company. And it's meant to sound positive, like 00:27:54.579 --> 00:27:56.940 they're helping the world change. But when you 00:27:56.940 --> 00:28:00.140 contrast their investments in fusion, which is 00:28:00.140 --> 00:28:02.519 all about the future of human ingenuity, with 00:28:02.519 --> 00:28:04.799 the legal wars they've waged over toxic dumping, 00:28:04.960 --> 00:28:07.539 which is all about avoiding a legacy of the past, 00:28:07.779 --> 00:28:10.480 it raises a really powerful question for you 00:28:10.480 --> 00:28:12.329 to think about. So what's the final takeaway 00:28:12.329 --> 00:28:15.589 here? I think the key insight is this. Chevron 00:28:15.589 --> 00:28:17.930 is betting that its sheer corporate scale and 00:28:17.930 --> 00:28:20.190 its technological know -how will keep it dominant 00:28:20.190 --> 00:28:23.359 for decades to come. But what truly defines the 00:28:23.359 --> 00:28:25.720 cost of that human energy in the 21st century? 00:28:26.059 --> 00:28:28.599 What is the real human and environmental price 00:28:28.599 --> 00:28:31.140 of maintaining that dominant, vertically integrated 00:28:31.140 --> 00:28:33.680 position, when that position is secured by both 00:28:33.680 --> 00:28:36.099 cutting -edge technology and by decades of aggressive, 00:28:36.299 --> 00:28:38.960 high -stakes litigation against the very people 00:28:38.960 --> 00:28:40.980 who claim to have been harmed by your past methods? 00:28:41.299 --> 00:28:43.480 That is the real measure of the energy they harness.