Chevron To Trim Capex for 4th Year

Chevron late December 7 announced a 2017 capital and exploratory spending programme of $19.8bn, which it expects to be at least 15% lower than its 2016 expenditure and 42% less than its 2015 capital outlay.

CEO John Watson said: "This is the fourth consecutive year of spending reductions.” A combination of lower spending and growth in production revenues, including from completed projects, would support Chevron’s objective of becoming cash-balanced in 2017, he added.

Of the 2017 total, $17.3bn would be upstream – split one-third US, two-thirds international.

Chevron chairman and CEO John Watson (Photo source: Chevron)

The total would include $7bn to major capital projects currently underway, including some $2bn to complete the Gorgon and Wheatstone LNG projects in Australia and $3bn of affiliate expenditures to boost production at the Tengiz oil field in Kazakhstan.

Global exploration would account for some $1bn of the total upstream budget.

Mark Smedley