Chevron Corp at Goldman Sachs Energy, CleanTech & Utilities Conference Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: David Solomon - Goldman Sachs & Company, Inc. - Analyst : Thank you very much, Neil. Good morning, everybody. Welcome. The only thing I can tell you is that it's warmer in Florida than it is in New York. When I left last night, it was 24 degrees. And so it's delightful to be here in the high 50s in Florida. Mike, it's great to have you here. I want to jump right in. First of all, I appreciate you being here. I appreciate the opportunity to chat with you. It was an eventful year. I had a busy year. You had a much, much busier year. You had a very, very eventful year. And I think about you spoke here a year ago. I kind of want you to kind of walk us through at a high level kind of where the company is -- Kazakhstan, the acquisition of Hess, the inflection of free cash flow by 2026, kind of walk us through at a high level, kind of a strategic update. Where is the company kind of as you look forward in 2025. How are you feeling about things?

Question: David Solomon - Goldman Sachs & Company, Inc. - Analyst : Sure. Let's talk a little bit about the macro environment and the macro setup. You and I were just talking. Certainly, when you step back and you look at the change in the business environment, it's got to be more constructive. Every CEO I've spoken to over the last 12 to 24 months felt we were in a very, very complex over the last 12 to 24 months business environment from a regulatory perspective from kind of a growth agenda perspective. We obviously have a shift with the new administration. But the macro environment, when you look at geopolitics and you look around the world, is pretty complicated. We certainly have had volatility in commodity prices. Give us kind of your top down macro view both, locally but also globally as to how you see things setting up in 2025 and into 2026.

Question: David Solomon - Goldman Sachs & Company, Inc. - Analyst : Yeah. Talk a little bit about commodity prices. What's created movement and volatility? And as you kind of think about energy supply and demand, how do you see this playing out from a commodity price perspective over the course of the next 12 to 24 months?

Question: David Solomon - Goldman Sachs & Company, Inc. - Analyst : I want to touch on LNG for a minute again, some chatter about potential medium-term oversupply of LNG. Chevron's view?

Question: David Solomon - Goldman Sachs & Company, Inc. - Analyst : Yeah. One of the things is I travel around and talk to people. The theme of growing power demand, particularly here in the US, is a big, big macro theme. Talk a little bit about how Chevron is positioned to help meet changes in power structure and demand over the course of the next decade.

Question: David Solomon - Goldman Sachs & Company, Inc. - Analyst : Let's talk a little bit about the incoming administration. You and I chatted for a few minutes. High level, impacts broadly of the policy initiatives on the company and also the energy sector as a whole.

Question: David Solomon - Goldman Sachs & Company, Inc. - Analyst : If you think about the energy sector broadly, I mean, this is something I've watched -- somebody who has watched markets for over 40 years. The growth in technology has obviously rebalanced the role that the energy sector has played in the overall market cap weighting to markets. How does that evolve and shift over time? I mean, energy is still so important to the overall ecosystem, the economy, technology is driven by power and energy. But the attention that the energy sector gets from investors at the moment is different than what it's been now. There are pendulum, pendulum swings back and forth and it's certainly swinging back. But talk a little bit about how you think about that balance and the attention that the energy sector gets from investors right now.

Question: David Solomon - Goldman Sachs & Company, Inc. - Analyst : Let's shift all of its operations, if that's okay. I want to talk about the portfolio, talk about the asset base a little bit. Let's start with Kazakhstan. Talk about kind of the accomplishments around that project and 2024 key milestones and kind of what's ahead of the first oil expected later this year. REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. JANUARY 08, 2025 / 2:00PM, CVX.N - Chevron Corp at Goldman Sachs Energy, CleanTech & Utilities Conference

Question: David Solomon - Goldman Sachs & Company, Inc. - Analyst : So if you zoom out, this was a huge project, huge undertaking. Learnings that will impact how you think about other big long term investment projects in the future?

Question: David Solomon - Goldman Sachs & Company, Inc. - Analyst : Good takeaways. You're also making a big push to grow production in the Gulf. I don't know, Mexico or America. REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. JANUARY 08, 2025 / 2:00PM, CVX.N - Chevron Corp at Goldman Sachs Energy, CleanTech & Utilities Conference

Question: David Solomon - Goldman Sachs & Company, Inc. - Analyst : The Gulf. Talk a little bit about the ramp profile of those investments and kind of what you see coming out of that and some of the milestones you've kind of laid out around increased production there.

Question: David Solomon - Goldman Sachs & Company, Inc. - Analyst : So staying on the topic of offshore, you've acquired some positions offshore in Africa. Talk a little bit about the opportunities there, some of the key considerations, how you think about that -- different parts of the world, different places to operate.

Question: David Solomon - Goldman Sachs & Company, Inc. - Analyst : And the last thing I just wanted to touch on going through the portfolio is the Permian. You put out CapEx guidance that kind of shows some capital efficiency in the context of investment and production there. Talk a little bit about what's driving the capital efficiency and how the production kind of scale looks for the Permian as you go forward.

Question: David Solomon - Goldman Sachs & Company, Inc. - Analyst : Let's pivot and talk about Hess. Why don't you give us an update on Hess, where you are and how that's all progressing? REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. JANUARY 08, 2025 / 2:00PM, CVX.N - Chevron Corp at Goldman Sachs Energy, CleanTech & Utilities Conference

Question: David Solomon - Goldman Sachs & Company, Inc. - Analyst : As you've learned more about Guyana since the deal announcement, how do you feel about that asset base?

Question: David Solomon - Goldman Sachs & Company, Inc. - Analyst : You said that you -- it would be very unlikely for you to pursue something else significant as you're going through Hess process. But how should people think about your medium and longer term M&A strategy?

Question: David Solomon - Goldman Sachs & Company, Inc. - Analyst : Yeah. Very, very well. You touched on the dividend, you touched on capital returns, your ability to grow the dividend consistently in buybacks. How should people think about the cadence and the magnitude of capital returns while also -- and this is something you've done very well -- balance sheet strength security with a volatile world and a volatile industry? Talk a little bit about how you think about that balance.

Question: David Solomon - Goldman Sachs & Company, Inc. - Analyst : So just the last thing, I touched on the capital management. You've said always -- all the assets in the portfolio have to constantly compete for capital. How do you think about the scope and the magnitude of recycling or divesting assets in the portfolio versus new growth opportunities?

Question: David Solomon - Goldman Sachs & Company, Inc. - Analyst : Yeah. So we've covered a lot of landscape across the macro, the portfolio, your strategy. Is there anything we've missed or anything you want to add for the group this morning?

Question: David Solomon - Goldman Sachs & Company, Inc. - Analyst : Energy and financials.

Question: David Solomon - Goldman Sachs & Company, Inc. - Analyst : Well said. Mike, we appreciate you being here. We appreciate the partnership with the firm and thank you for taking the time this morning. REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. JANUARY 08, 2025 / 2:00PM, CVX.N - Chevron Corp at Goldman Sachs Energy, CleanTech & Utilities Conference