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Chevron Corporation () 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 six "supermajors," along with ExxonMobil, BP, Shell, ConocoPhillips and Total.

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 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. 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. *

Overview

Chevron employs approximately 62,000 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.

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-1960's, in San Francisco were sold in December 1999. Its original headquarters were at 200 Bush St., built in 1912. [http://www.sfbctc.org/highrise-91701.htm

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. *

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.

Energy technologies

The company also develops and commercializes advanced energy technologies, including fuel cells, photovoltaics, and advanced batteries, and is active in research and development efforts to utilize hydrogen as a fuel for transport and power. Additionally, the company is investing in the field of nanotechnology, evaluating a new class of molecular building blocks that potentially may be useful in many industries.

Marketing Brands

Fuel

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)

Promotional

Board of directors

As of November 2005 *:

Former members of the board of directors: Condoleezza Rice.

Criticism

In 1992, 777 women filed a class-action suit against Chevron for discrimination and tolerating sexual harassment at Chevron Information Technology Company in San Ramon. In 1995, they settled the harassment claim for $2.2 million. Chevron settled the rest of the charges for $7.42 million.

"Mother's Day Massacre" : In 1993, the day before Mother's Day, Ortho, a joint division of Chevron and Monsanto, fired more than 60 sales people, 90 percent of them over 40-years-old. Forty-three of the employees sued Chevron and Monsanto for age discrimination. They settled for $18.3 million.

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 The Nigerian government is reportedly 80% dependent upon oil production and is condemned by many for its reported [http://www.amnestyusa.org/countries/nigeria/index.do treatment of environmentalists.

Chevron had ten refinery accidents in ten years at their refinery in Richmond, CA. The 10th accident occurred on 25 March 1999, when there was an explosion in one of the hydrocracking units, sending several hundred people to local hospitals with smoke-related injuries. "Explosion Rocks Chevron Refinery". March 25, 1999. Reuters. Accessed June 15, 2006. The county's emergency warning sirens did not fire for 20 minutes after the explosion. "Huge Explosion Rocks Richmond Oil Refinery" March 26, 1999. San Francisco Chronicle. Accessed June 15, 2006.

Communities for a Better Environment sued Chevron, Unocal (also an initiative funder), and other oil companies for polluting Latino and African-American communities in Los Angeles.

Notes

External links

General Information

Environmental Efforts

Human Rights Efforts

Criticism

1879 establishments | Companies based in Contra Costa County | Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange | Multinational companies | Oil companies of the United States | Chemical companies of the United States | Automotive companies of the United States | Automotive fuel brands | Fortune 1000

Chevron Corporation | Chevron Corporation | Chevron | Chevron Corporation | Chevron Corporation | シェブロン | Chevron | ChevronTexaco | Chevron

 

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