Chevron

Chevron out with Ernie's t David, were talking about that, right? Yeah. Guyana, Right, I only got And so, joining us now, any exclusive CMBC interview is Chevron Chairman and CEO Mike Worth. Mike, do How's t Well, happy Halloween, Jim, and look, we're doing it all. We had record production in the quarter. We had strong cash generation and delivered superior shareholder returns. Worldwide in U. S. production set records were over 4 million barrels a day in the quarter. Three years ago, were barely at 3 million barrels a day. Prices were down $10 a barrel from a year ago, but our adjusted free cash flow is about 50% And we returned over $6 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases. Over the last three years, we've returned more than 25% of our market cap via dividends and share repurchases to our shareholders. So we're Now, there are several fields that have come into play here that are just remarkable, plus other places that I know I visited you in Gulf of Mexico, Gulf of America, whatever. You have the Permian, but you also have, and Guyana, these must be spewing cash flow. I don't know what else to say. I t Well, it is about the cash flow. Jim, we're delivering growth in prolific Our capex is essentially flat from a year ago. We actually brought overall capital spending down a billion dollars from a year ago, and yet production is up over 20%. So we're growing At the same time, Mike, you brought it up, Kazakhstan, Venezuela. You're in some places that are unusual. Just on October 21st, you had a drone attack that influenced your production in Kazakhstan. How are you handling the volatility of what are the, maybe the two hottest spots in the world right now than Gaza, Venezuela and Russia? Jim, our first priority is always the safety of our people, the integrity of our assets, and protecting the communities around us from any sort of an event. We have experience working in environments We actually are very close to Gaza, offshore and the Eastern Mediterranean as well. And so t We produce in areas that sometimes see t Our people know how to manage our facilities in these kinds of circ Are you willing to go to these places, Mike? I've been to Kazakhstan t I've been to the Middle East last year. I haven't been to Venezuela for a w If you go to Venezuela, can I go with you? We'll have to discuss that, Jim. We'll see, if and when. Yeah, I went to the Gulf of America. You did go out to the Gulf of America. We had a great visit to see Anchor, a new project, the first ever at 20,000 pounds per square inch depth or pressure in the well bore, producing well, three wells online today, a fourth one coming online early in 2026. We're well on our way to 300,000 barrels a day in the Gulf of America. And we're now the largest leaseholder in the Gulf of America as a result of the combination with HES. So that's an area that we're very excited about. Regular lease sales have res Mike, it's David. Speaking of Venezuela, the Wall Street Journal today devotes a lot of col There's a quote I'd love you to respond to. It's from Elliot Abrams. He was the US top envoy to Venezuela during the first Tr He said the following, what you have is a conflict between the interests of one oil company, Chevron, and the United States. How do you view that statement and respond to it? Yeah, I don't see it the same way as, as unboy Abrams sees it. We see our presence in Venezuela as somet It's good for the United States. The oil that's produced in Venezuela is a We've been in the country for most of the last 100 years through the ups and downs of political and economic cycles. And we believe that regional trade and foreign investment is a ve And so I t What are your expectations given, the continued military buildup of the US and the region? And what do you do if in fact there is a kinetic war, so to speak? Well, we hope that there is not such a conflict. As I mentioned just a minute ago, we've operated in the Eastern Mediterranean through the Gaza conflict. We've had incoming rocket fire at our offshore platforms In that area, we've had drone strikes on infrastructure in and around our position in Kazakhstan. And we have a very capable intelligence and security function within our company that helps us plan for and prepare for potential events We have safety plans we drill and we prepare, but we hope that conflict Do you have any insight for us as to whether there's a I don't have anyt I t