Saudi Aramco

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Saudi Aramco (Arabic: ارامكو السعودية ), officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, is the state-owned national oil company of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Aramco is likely the world's most valuable privately-held company, with estimates of its value in 2010 ranging from 2.2 trillion USD[2] to 7 trillion USD.[3][4]
Saudi Aramco has both the largest proven crude oil reserves, at more than 260 billion barrels, and largest daily oil production.[5] Headquartered in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia,[6] Saudi Aramco operates the world's largest single hydrocarbon network, the Master Gas System. Its yearly production is 7.9 billion barrels,[1] and it managed over 100 oil and gas fields in Saudi Arabia, including 279 trillion scf of natural gas reserves.[1]
Saudi Aramco owns the Ghawar Field, the world's largest oil field, and the Shaybah Field, one of the world's largest of its kind.
Contents [hide]
1 History
1.1 Timeline
2 Operation
2.1 Exploration
2.2 Drilling
2.3 Refining and Chemicals
2.3.1 List of refineries
2.4 Shipping
2.5 Research and development
2.5.1 Saudi Aramco patents
2.6 Other services
2.7 Associated companies/subsidiaries
3 Environmental record
4 Financial data
5 See also
6 References
7 Bibliography
8 External links
[edit]History

The origins of Saudi Aramco can be traced back to May 29, 1933, when the Saudi government granted a concession to Standard Oil of California (Socal) which allowed the company to explore for oil in Saudi Arabia. Socal assigned this concession to a wholly owned subsidiary called California-Arabian Standard Oil Co. (Casoc). In 1936, with the company having no success at locating oil, the Texas Oil Company (Texaco) purchased a 50% stake of the concession.[7]
After four years of fruitless exploration, the first success came with the seventh drill site in Dammam, a few miles north of Dhahran in 1938, a well referred to as Dammam No. 7. This well immediately produced over 1,500 barrels per day (240 m3/d), giving the company confidence to continue. The company name was changed in 1944 from California-Arabian Standard Oil Company to Arabian American Oil Company (or Aramco). In 1948, Socal and Texaco were joined as investors by Standard Oil of New Jersey (Esso) which purchased 30% of the company, and Socony Vacuum (later Mobil) which purchased 10% of the company, leaving Socal and Texaco with 30% each.
In 1950, King Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud threatened to nationalize his country's oil facilities, thus pressuring Aramco to agree to share profits 50/50. A similar process had taken place with American oil companies in Venezuela a few years earlier. The American government granted US Aramco member companies a tax break known as the golden gimmick equivalent to the profits given to Ibn Saud. In the wake of the new arrangement, the company's headquarters were moved from New York to Dhahran.
In 1973, following US support for Israel during the Yom Kippur War, the Saudi Arabian government acquired a 25% share of Aramco, increased the share to 60% by 1974, and finally acquired full control of Aramco by 1980. In November 1988, the company changed its name from Arabian American Oil Company to Saudi Arabian Oil Company (or Saudi Aramco).
[edit]Timeline
1932 Oil is discovered in Bahrain. Socal begins a year-long series of negotiations with the Saudi government.
1933 Saudi Arabia grants oil concession to California Arabian Standard Oil Company (Casoc), affiliate of Standard Oil of California (Socal, today's Chevron). Oil prospecting begins on Kingdom's east coast.
1936 Texas Oil Company (which became Texaco, and now Chevron) acquires 50% interest in Socal's concession. The joint venture became known as the California Texas Oil Company, or Caltex.
1938 Kingdom's first commercial oil field discovered at Dhahran. Crude is exported by barge to Bahrain.
1939 First tanker load of petroleum is exported. (Socal’s D.G. Scofield)
1944 Casoc changes its name to Arabian American Oil Company (Aramco).
1945 Ras Tanura Refinery begins operations (eventually becomes the largest oil-refinery in the world).
1948 Standard Oil of New Jersey (which became Exxon and now ExxonMobil) and Socony-Vacuum Oil (which became Mobil and now ExxonMobil) join Socal (now Chevron) and Texaco (now Chevron) as owners of Aramco.
1950 1,700 km Trans-Arabian Pipe Line (Tapline) is completed, linking Eastern Province oil fields to Lebanon and the Mediterranean.
1950 The US government bestows upon the US member companies a tax break equivalent to 50% of oil profits, a deal known as the Golden gimmick.
1956 Aramco confirms scale of Ghawar and Safaniya, the largest onshore and the largest offshore field in the world, respectively.
1961 Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) - propane and butane — is first processed at Ras Tanura and shipped to customers.
1966 Tankers begin calling at "Sea Island", new offshore crude oil loading platform off Ras Tanura.
1973 Saudi Government acquires 25 percent interest in Aramco.
1975 Master Gas System project is launched.
1980 Saudi Government acquires 100 percent participation interest in Aramco, purchasing almost all of the company's assets.
1981 East-West Pipelines, built for Aramco natural gas liquids and crude oil, link Eastern Province fields with Yanbu on the Red Sea.
1982 King Fahd visits Saudi Aramco, Dhahran, on Aramco's 50th Anniversary to inaugurate the Exploration and Petroleum Engineering Center (EXPEC), a milestone in the Saudization of the company's operations.
1984 Company acquires its first four supertankers.
1987 East-West Crude Oil Pipeline expansion project is completed, boosting capacity to 3.2 million barrels (510,000 m³) per day.
1988 Saudi Arabian Oil Company, or Saudi Aramco, is established.
1989 High-quality oil and gas are discovered south of Riyadh — the first find outside original operating area.
1991 Company plays major role combating Gulf War oil spill, the world's largest.
1992 East-West Crude Oil Pipeline capacity is boosted to 5 million barrels (800,000 m³) per day. Saudi Aramco affiliate purchases 35% interest in SsangYong Oil Refining Company (S-Oil) in the Republic of Korea.
1993 Saudi Aramco takes charge of Kingdom's domestic refining, marketing, distribution and joint-venture refining interests by buying Jeddah-based Saudi Arabian Marketing and Refining Company (SAMAREC). The company also assumed the Saudi Arabian government's 50% share of the Jubail export refining company, which becomes the Saudi Aramco Shell Refining Company (SASREF).
1994 Maximum sustained crude-oil production capacity is returned to 10 million barrels (1,600,000 m³) per day. Company acquires a 40% equity interest in Petron, largest refiner in the Philippines.
1995 Company completes a program to build 15 very large crude carriers. Saudi Aramco President and CEO Ali I. Al-Naimi is named the Kingdom's Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, and Chairman of Saudi Aramco. Abdallah S. Jum'ah is named the CEO, President, and Director of Saudi Aramco.
1996 Saudi Aramco acquires 50 percent of Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries and Avinoil from the Vardinoyannis family. Company also assumes controlling interest in two Jeddah-based lubricants companies, now known as Saudi Aramco Lubricating Oil Refining Company (Luberef) and Saudi Arabian Lubricating Oil Company (Petrolube).
1998 Saudi Aramco, Texaco and Shell establish Motiva Enterprises LLC, a major refining and marketing joint venture in the southern and eastern United States.
1999 HRH Crown Prince 'Abd Allah inaugurates the Shaybah field in the Rub' al-Khali desert, one of the largest projects of its kind in the world goes on stream. The Dhahran-Riyadh-Qasim multi-product pipeline and the Ras Tanura Upgrade project are completed. The second Saudi Aramco-Mobil lubricating oil refinery (Luberef II) in Yanbu' commences operations.
2000 Petroleum Intelligence Weekly ranks the company the first in the world for the 11th straight year, for the country's crude oil reserves and production. Aramco Gulf Operations Limited is established to administer the government's petroleum interest in the Offshore Neutral Zone between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. New facilities are under construction in the Haradh and Hawiyah gas plant projects to process gas for delivery to the Master Gas System and to domestic markets.
2001 Hawiyah Gas Plant, capable of processing up to 1.6 billion standard cubic feet per day of non-associated gas, comes on stream.
2003 Haradh Gas Plant completed two and a half months ahead of schedule.
2004 HRH Crown Prince 'Abd Allah ibn 'Abd Al-'Aziz Al Saud, First Deputy Prime Minister and Head of the National Guard, inaugurates the 800,000-barrel-per-day (127,000 m3/d) Qatif-Abu Sa'fah Producing Plants mega project. In addition to the crude, the plants provide 370 million standard cubic feet of associated gas daily.
2005 Saudi Aramco and Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd. sign a joint venture agreement for the development of a large, integrated refining and petrochemical complex in the Red Sea town of Rabigh, on Saudi Arabia's west coast. This becomes known as Petro Rabigh.
2006 Saudi Aramco and Sumitomo Chemical break ground on Media:PETRORabigh, an integrated refining/petrochemical project. Haradh III completed, yielding 300,000 bbl/d (48,000 m3/d) of oil. Accords signed for two export refineries—Jubail (with Total) and in Yanbu' (with Conoco-Phillips).
2007 Saudi Aramco subsidiary Saudi Aramco Sino Co. Ltd. signs agreements with ExxonMobil, Sinopec Corp and the Fujian Provincial Government of China to form two joint ventures: Fujian Refining and Petrochemical Co. Ltd., a refining and petrochemicals venture, and Sinopec SenMei (Fujian) Petroleum Co. Ltd. (SSPC), a marketing venture.
2008 Saudi Aramco celebrates the 75th anniversary of the May 29, 1933, signing of the oil concession between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Standard Oil of California (Socal). King Abdullah visits Dhahran to celebrate the 75th anniversary.
2009 Saudi Aramco reaches 12 million bpd capacity after completing an expansion program. Also, Petro Rabigh, the company's first petrochemical plant (a partnership with Sumitomo Chemicals Co., Ltd., begins production.
2010 Saudi Aramco unveils GigaPOWERS™ and runs a first field test of Resbots™. [8]
2011 Saudi Aramco starts production from Karan Gas Field, with an output of more than 400 standard cubic feet per day. [9]
2011 Aramco raised selling prices for all crude grades for customers in Asia and Northwest Europe for April shipments and cut prices for customers in the U.S.[10]
[edit]Operation



Headquarters of Aramco Services Company in Houston
Saudi Aramco operations span the globe, despite being headquartered in Dhahran. Company operations include exploration, producing, refining, chemicals, distribution and marketing.
[edit]Exploration
A significant portion of the Saudi Aramco workforce consists of geophysicists and geologists. Saudi Aramco has been exploring for oil and gas reservoirs since 1982. Most of this process takes place at the Exploration and Petroleum Engineering Center (EXPEC). Originally, Saudi Aramco used Cray Supercomputers (CRAY-1M)[11] to assist in processing the colossal quantity of data obtained during exploration. In 2001, Saudi Aramco decided to use Linux clusters as a replacement for the decommissioned Cray systems.
[edit]Drilling
This is the most crucial process and as such accounts for the largest segment of the Saudi Aramco workforce. Drilling new wells efficiently and then maintaining them requires the company to employ a large number of engineers. With the increasing global demand for oil, Saudi Aramco seeks to expand its oil production. To do this the company seeks to expand the number of engineers and geo-scientists it employs.
[edit]Refining and Chemicals
While the company did not originally plan on refining oil, the Saudi government wished to have only one company dealing with oil production. Therefore, on July 1, 1993, the government issued a royal decree merging Saudi Aramco with Samarec, the country's oil refining company. The following year, a Saudi Aramco subsidiary acquired a 40% equity interest in Petron Corporation, the largest crude oil refiner and marketer int he Philippines.[11] Since then, Saudi Aramco has taken on the responsibility of refining oil and distributing it in the country.
Currently, Saudi Aramco's refining capacity is more than 4 million barrels per day (International joint and equity ventures: 2,060 mbpd, domestic joint ventures: 1,108 mpbd, and wholly owned domestic operations: 995 mbpd.) This figure is set to increase as more projects go online.[1]
Additionally, Saudi Aramco's downstream operations are shifting its emphasis to integrate refineries with petrochemical facilities. Their first venture into it is with Petro Rabigh, which is a joint venture with Sumitomo Chemical Co. that began in 2005 on the coast of the Red Sea.
[edit]List of refineries
List of domestic refineries[1]:
Jeddah Refinery (60,000 bpd nominal capacity)
Ras Tanura Refinery (includes a Crude Distillation Unit, a Gas Condensate Unit, a hydrocracker, and catalytic reforming.
Riyadh Refinery
Yanbu Refinery
List of domestic refining ventures[1]:
The Saudi Aramco Mobil Refinery Company Ltd. (SAMREF), Yanbu
The Saudi Aramco Shell Refinery Company (SASREF), Jubail
Petro Rabigh, Rabigh
Saudi Aramco Lubricating Oil Refining Co. (Luberef)
List of international refining ventures[1]:
Fujian Refining and Petrochemical Company (FRPC), People's Republic of China
Sinopec SenMei (Fujian) Petroleum Co. Ltd. (SSPC), People's Republic of China
Motiva Enterprises LLC, United States
Showa Shell, Japan
S-Oil, Republic of Korea
[edit]Shipping
Saudi Aramco has employed several tankers to ship crude oil, refined oil and gas to various countries. It has created a wholly owned subsidiary company, Vela International Marine Limited, to handle shipping to North America, Europe and Asia.[12]
[edit]Research and development
Saudi Aramco has taken a keen interest in optimizing its processes over the last decade. To this end, it has employed about 500 engineers and scientists specializing in different aspects of the hydrocarbon industry.
There are two R&D entities in Saudi Aramco: 1) Exploration and Petroleum Engineering Center Advanced Research Center (EXPEC ARC) which is solely managed by Exploration & Producing and focuses on upstream research, and 2) The Research and Development Center (R&DC), which focuses on downstream research and includes bio-research. Leading research undertaken at these two major facilities provides Saudi Aramco with competitive technology solutions throughout the vast range of its petroleum-related activities.
[edit]Saudi Aramco patents
Saudi Aramco patents:
In 2010, Saudi Aramco was granted its 100th patent.[13]
Notable patents that Saudi Aramco holds are:
1. GigaPOWERS™
The EXPEC ARC debuted GigaPOWERS™ on Jan. 23, 2010 to a live audience at their auditorium. GigaPOWERS™ is a second generation innovation of POWERS (Parallel Oil, Water and Gas Enhanced Reservoir Simulator) that was created in 1997 and is a high-resolution reservoir simulator to model and predict the performance of super-giant reservoirs. (See reservoir simulation for more information).GigaPOWERS™ did that job with giga-cell reservoir simulation technology, which meant that the models could hold more information and produce better reservoir simulations.[14]
GigaPOWERS™ set a new industry record for being able to simulate reservoirs at seismic or near-seismic resolution. Previously, scientists simulated this by averaging the simulation model cells in order to reduce their number, thus reducing the amount of information in the model. However, with the innovation of GigaPOWERS™, models of more than one-billion cells were simulated. This makes it easier to study the performance and predict the behavior of oil fields, so that engineers and scientists can create better strategies when producing those fields.
2. Resbots™
[edit]Other services
Saudi Aramco also provides several services to its employees. It maintains a large hospital and provides health insurance for its employees. It also maintains several fire stations, both industrial and residential. Saudi Aramco introduced its Industrial Security over two decades ago. This security force primarily ensures the safety of the company's industrial and residential areas.
Saudi Aramco has operations all over the kingdom and therefore, it often needs to transport employees between operations. It currently maintains and operates a fleet of 39 aircraft (18 fixed wing and 21 rotor-wing) to provide this support function.
Also, Saudi Aramco has intensive career development programs under the Career Development Department. These includes PDP (Professional Development Program) for fresh graduates and ADP (Advanced Degree Program) for Master and PHDs studies

Saudi Aramco

Image via Wikipedia
Saudi Aramco (Arabic: ارامكو السعودية ), officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, is the state-owned national oil company of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Aramco is likely the world's most valuable privately-held company, with estimates of its value in 2010 ranging from 2.2 trillion USD[2] to 7 trillion USD.[3][4]
Saudi Aramco has both the largest proven crude oil reserves, at more than 260 billion barrels, and largest daily oil production.[5] Headquartered in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia,[6] Saudi Aramco operates the world's largest single hydrocarbon network, the Master Gas System. Its yearly production is 7.9 billion barrels,[1] and it managed over 100 oil and gas fields in Saudi Arabia, including 279 trillion scf of natural gas reserves.[1]
Saudi Aramco owns the Ghawar Field, the world's largest oil field, and the Shaybah Field, one of the world's largest of its kind.
Contents [hide]
1 History
1.1 Timeline
2 Operation
2.1 Exploration
2.2 Drilling
2.3 Refining and Chemicals
2.3.1 List of refineries
2.4 Shipping
2.5 Research and development
2.5.1 Saudi Aramco patents
2.6 Other services
2.7 Associated companies/subsidiaries
3 Environmental record
4 Financial data
5 See also
6 References
7 Bibliography
8 External links
[edit]History

The origins of Saudi Aramco can be traced back to May 29, 1933, when the Saudi government granted a concession to Standard Oil of California (Socal) which allowed the company to explore for oil in Saudi Arabia. Socal assigned this concession to a wholly owned subsidiary called California-Arabian Standard Oil Co. (Casoc). In 1936, with the company having no success at locating oil, the Texas Oil Company (Texaco) purchased a 50% stake of the concession.[7]
After four years of fruitless exploration, the first success came with the seventh drill site in Dammam, a few miles north of Dhahran in 1938, a well referred to as Dammam No. 7. This well immediately produced over 1,500 barrels per day (240 m3/d), giving the company confidence to continue. The company name was changed in 1944 from California-Arabian Standard Oil Company to Arabian American Oil Company (or Aramco). In 1948, Socal and Texaco were joined as investors by Standard Oil of New Jersey (Esso) which purchased 30% of the company, and Socony Vacuum (later Mobil) which purchased 10% of the company, leaving Socal and Texaco with 30% each.
In 1950, King Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud threatened to nationalize his country's oil facilities, thus pressuring Aramco to agree to share profits 50/50. A similar process had taken place with American oil companies in Venezuela a few years earlier. The American government granted US Aramco member companies a tax break known as the golden gimmick equivalent to the profits given to Ibn Saud. In the wake of the new arrangement, the company's headquarters were moved from New York to Dhahran.
In 1973, following US support for Israel during the Yom Kippur War, the Saudi Arabian government acquired a 25% share of Aramco, increased the share to 60% by 1974, and finally acquired full control of Aramco by 1980. In November 1988, the company changed its name from Arabian American Oil Company to Saudi Arabian Oil Company (or Saudi Aramco).
[edit]Timeline
1932 Oil is discovered in Bahrain. Socal begins a year-long series of negotiations with the Saudi government.
1933 Saudi Arabia grants oil concession to California Arabian Standard Oil Company (Casoc), affiliate of Standard Oil of California (Socal, today's Chevron). Oil prospecting begins on Kingdom's east coast.
1936 Texas Oil Company (which became Texaco, and now Chevron) acquires 50% interest in Socal's concession. The joint venture became known as the California Texas Oil Company, or Caltex.
1938 Kingdom's first commercial oil field discovered at Dhahran. Crude is exported by barge to Bahrain.
1939 First tanker load of petroleum is exported. (Socal’s D.G. Scofield)
1944 Casoc changes its name to Arabian American Oil Company (Aramco).
1945 Ras Tanura Refinery begins operations (eventually becomes the largest oil-refinery in the world).
1948 Standard Oil of New Jersey (which became Exxon and now ExxonMobil) and Socony-Vacuum Oil (which became Mobil and now ExxonMobil) join Socal (now Chevron) and Texaco (now Chevron) as owners of Aramco.
1950 1,700 km Trans-Arabian Pipe Line (Tapline) is completed, linking Eastern Province oil fields to Lebanon and the Mediterranean.
1950 The US government bestows upon the US member companies a tax break equivalent to 50% of oil profits, a deal known as the Golden gimmick.
1956 Aramco confirms scale of Ghawar and Safaniya, the largest onshore and the largest offshore field in the world, respectively.
1961 Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) - propane and butane — is first processed at Ras Tanura and shipped to customers.
1966 Tankers begin calling at "Sea Island", new offshore crude oil loading platform off Ras Tanura.
1973 Saudi Government acquires 25 percent interest in Aramco.
1975 Master Gas System project is launched.
1980 Saudi Government acquires 100 percent participation interest in Aramco, purchasing almost all of the company's assets.
1981 East-West Pipelines, built for Aramco natural gas liquids and crude oil, link Eastern Province fields with Yanbu on the Red Sea.
1982 King Fahd visits Saudi Aramco, Dhahran, on Aramco's 50th Anniversary to inaugurate the Exploration and Petroleum Engineering Center (EXPEC), a milestone in the Saudization of the company's operations.
1984 Company acquires its first four supertankers.
1987 East-West Crude Oil Pipeline expansion project is completed, boosting capacity to 3.2 million barrels (510,000 m³) per day.
1988 Saudi Arabian Oil Company, or Saudi Aramco, is established.
1989 High-quality oil and gas are discovered south of Riyadh — the first find outside original operating area.
1991 Company plays major role combating Gulf War oil spill, the world's largest.
1992 East-West Crude Oil Pipeline capacity is boosted to 5 million barrels (800,000 m³) per day. Saudi Aramco affiliate purchases 35% interest in SsangYong Oil Refining Company (S-Oil) in the Republic of Korea.
1993 Saudi Aramco takes charge of Kingdom's domestic refining, marketing, distribution and joint-venture refining interests by buying Jeddah-based Saudi Arabian Marketing and Refining Company (SAMAREC). The company also assumed the Saudi Arabian government's 50% share of the Jubail export refining company, which becomes the Saudi Aramco Shell Refining Company (SASREF).
1994 Maximum sustained crude-oil production capacity is returned to 10 million barrels (1,600,000 m³) per day. Company acquires a 40% equity interest in Petron, largest refiner in the Philippines.
1995 Company completes a program to build 15 very large crude carriers. Saudi Aramco President and CEO Ali I. Al-Naimi is named the Kingdom's Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, and Chairman of Saudi Aramco. Abdallah S. Jum'ah is named the CEO, President, and Director of Saudi Aramco.
1996 Saudi Aramco acquires 50 percent of Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries and Avinoil from the Vardinoyannis family. Company also assumes controlling interest in two Jeddah-based lubricants companies, now known as Saudi Aramco Lubricating Oil Refining Company (Luberef) and Saudi Arabian Lubricating Oil Company (Petrolube).
1998 Saudi Aramco, Texaco and Shell establish Motiva Enterprises LLC, a major refining and marketing joint venture in the southern and eastern United States.
1999 HRH Crown Prince 'Abd Allah inaugurates the Shaybah field in the Rub' al-Khali desert, one of the largest projects of its kind in the world goes on stream. The Dhahran-Riyadh-Qasim multi-product pipeline and the Ras Tanura Upgrade project are completed. The second Saudi Aramco-Mobil lubricating oil refinery (Luberef II) in Yanbu' commences operations.
2000 Petroleum Intelligence Weekly ranks the company the first in the world for the 11th straight year, for the country's crude oil reserves and production. Aramco Gulf Operations Limited is established to administer the government's petroleum interest in the Offshore Neutral Zone between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. New facilities are under construction in the Haradh and Hawiyah gas plant projects to process gas for delivery to the Master Gas System and to domestic markets.
2001 Hawiyah Gas Plant, capable of processing up to 1.6 billion standard cubic feet per day of non-associated gas, comes on stream.
2003 Haradh Gas Plant completed two and a half months ahead of schedule.
2004 HRH Crown Prince 'Abd Allah ibn 'Abd Al-'Aziz Al Saud, First Deputy Prime Minister and Head of the National Guard, inaugurates the 800,000-barrel-per-day (127,000 m3/d) Qatif-Abu Sa'fah Producing Plants mega project. In addition to the crude, the plants provide 370 million standard cubic feet of associated gas daily.
2005 Saudi Aramco and Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd. sign a joint venture agreement for the development of a large, integrated refining and petrochemical complex in the Red Sea town of Rabigh, on Saudi Arabia's west coast. This becomes known as Petro Rabigh.
2006 Saudi Aramco and Sumitomo Chemical break ground on Media:PETRORabigh, an integrated refining/petrochemical project. Haradh III completed, yielding 300,000 bbl/d (48,000 m3/d) of oil. Accords signed for two export refineries—Jubail (with Total) and in Yanbu' (with Conoco-Phillips).
2007 Saudi Aramco subsidiary Saudi Aramco Sino Co. Ltd. signs agreements with ExxonMobil, Sinopec Corp and the Fujian Provincial Government of China to form two joint ventures: Fujian Refining and Petrochemical Co. Ltd., a refining and petrochemicals venture, and Sinopec SenMei (Fujian) Petroleum Co. Ltd. (SSPC), a marketing venture.
2008 Saudi Aramco celebrates the 75th anniversary of the May 29, 1933, signing of the oil concession between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Standard Oil of California (Socal). King Abdullah visits Dhahran to celebrate the 75th anniversary.
2009 Saudi Aramco reaches 12 million bpd capacity after completing an expansion program. Also, Petro Rabigh, the company's first petrochemical plant (a partnership with Sumitomo Chemicals Co., Ltd., begins production.
2010 Saudi Aramco unveils GigaPOWERS™ and runs a first field test of Resbots™. [8]
2011 Saudi Aramco starts production from Karan Gas Field, with an output of more than 400 standard cubic feet per day. [9]
2011 Aramco raised selling prices for all crude grades for customers in Asia and Northwest Europe for April shipments and cut prices for customers in the U.S.[10]
[edit]Operation



Headquarters of Aramco Services Company in Houston
Saudi Aramco operations span the globe, despite being headquartered in Dhahran. Company operations include exploration, producing, refining, chemicals, distribution and marketing.
[edit]Exploration
A significant portion of the Saudi Aramco workforce consists of geophysicists and geologists. Saudi Aramco has been exploring for oil and gas reservoirs since 1982. Most of this process takes place at the Exploration and Petroleum Engineering Center (EXPEC). Originally, Saudi Aramco used Cray Supercomputers (CRAY-1M)[11] to assist in processing the colossal quantity of data obtained during exploration. In 2001, Saudi Aramco decided to use Linux clusters as a replacement for the decommissioned Cray systems.
[edit]Drilling
This is the most crucial process and as such accounts for the largest segment of the Saudi Aramco workforce. Drilling new wells efficiently and then maintaining them requires the company to employ a large number of engineers. With the increasing global demand for oil, Saudi Aramco seeks to expand its oil production. To do this the company seeks to expand the number of engineers and geo-scientists it employs.
[edit]Refining and Chemicals
While the company did not originally plan on refining oil, the Saudi government wished to have only one company dealing with oil production. Therefore, on July 1, 1993, the government issued a royal decree merging Saudi Aramco with Samarec, the country's oil refining company. The following year, a Saudi Aramco subsidiary acquired a 40% equity interest in Petron Corporation, the largest crude oil refiner and marketer int he Philippines.[11] Since then, Saudi Aramco has taken on the responsibility of refining oil and distributing it in the country.
Currently, Saudi Aramco's refining capacity is more than 4 million barrels per day (International joint and equity ventures: 2,060 mbpd, domestic joint ventures: 1,108 mpbd, and wholly owned domestic operations: 995 mbpd.) This figure is set to increase as more projects go online.[1]
Additionally, Saudi Aramco's downstream operations are shifting its emphasis to integrate refineries with petrochemical facilities. Their first venture into it is with Petro Rabigh, which is a joint venture with Sumitomo Chemical Co. that began in 2005 on the coast of the Red Sea.
[edit]List of refineries
List of domestic refineries[1]:
Jeddah Refinery (60,000 bpd nominal capacity)
Ras Tanura Refinery (includes a Crude Distillation Unit, a Gas Condensate Unit, a hydrocracker, and catalytic reforming.
Riyadh Refinery
Yanbu Refinery
List of domestic refining ventures[1]:
The Saudi Aramco Mobil Refinery Company Ltd. (SAMREF), Yanbu
The Saudi Aramco Shell Refinery Company (SASREF), Jubail
Petro Rabigh, Rabigh
Saudi Aramco Lubricating Oil Refining Co. (Luberef)
List of international refining ventures[1]:
Fujian Refining and Petrochemical Company (FRPC), People's Republic of China
Sinopec SenMei (Fujian) Petroleum Co. Ltd. (SSPC), People's Republic of China
Motiva Enterprises LLC, United States
Showa Shell, Japan
S-Oil, Republic of Korea
[edit]Shipping
Saudi Aramco has employed several tankers to ship crude oil, refined oil and gas to various countries. It has created a wholly owned subsidiary company, Vela International Marine Limited, to handle shipping to North America, Europe and Asia.[12]
[edit]Research and development
Saudi Aramco has taken a keen interest in optimizing its processes over the last decade. To this end, it has employed about 500 engineers and scientists specializing in different aspects of the hydrocarbon industry.
There are two R&D entities in Saudi Aramco: 1) Exploration and Petroleum Engineering Center Advanced Research Center (EXPEC ARC) which is solely managed by Exploration & Producing and focuses on upstream research, and 2) The Research and Development Center (R&DC), which focuses on downstream research and includes bio-research. Leading research undertaken at these two major facilities provides Saudi Aramco with competitive technology solutions throughout the vast range of its petroleum-related activities.
[edit]Saudi Aramco patents
Saudi Aramco patents:
In 2010, Saudi Aramco was granted its 100th patent.[13]
Notable patents that Saudi Aramco holds are:
1. GigaPOWERS™
The EXPEC ARC debuted GigaPOWERS™ on Jan. 23, 2010 to a live audience at their auditorium. GigaPOWERS™ is a second generation innovation of POWERS (Parallel Oil, Water and Gas Enhanced Reservoir Simulator) that was created in 1997 and is a high-resolution reservoir simulator to model and predict the performance of super-giant reservoirs. (See reservoir simulation for more information).GigaPOWERS™ did that job with giga-cell reservoir simulation technology, which meant that the models could hold more information and produce better reservoir simulations.[14]
GigaPOWERS™ set a new industry record for being able to simulate reservoirs at seismic or near-seismic resolution. Previously, scientists simulated this by averaging the simulation model cells in order to reduce their number, thus reducing the amount of information in the model. However, with the innovation of GigaPOWERS™, models of more than one-billion cells were simulated. This makes it easier to study the performance and predict the behavior of oil fields, so that engineers and scientists can create better strategies when producing those fields.
2. Resbots™
[edit]Other services
Saudi Aramco also provides several services to its employees. It maintains a large hospital and provides health insurance for its employees. It also maintains several fire stations, both industrial and residential. Saudi Aramco introduced its Industrial Security over two decades ago. This security force primarily ensures the safety of the company's industrial and residential areas.
Saudi Aramco has operations all over the kingdom and therefore, it often needs to transport employees between operations. It currently maintains and operates a fleet of 39 aircraft (18 fixed wing and 21 rotor-wing) to provide this support function.
Also, Saudi Aramco has intensive career development programs under the Career Development Department. These includes PDP (Professional Development Program) for fresh graduates and ADP (Advanced Degree Program) for Master and PHDs studies

Chevron Corporation

Image by elycefeliz via Flickr
Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) is an American multinational energy corporation headquartered in San Ramon, California, United States and active in more than 180 countries. It is engaged in every aspect of the oil, gas, and geothermal energy industries, including exploration and production; refining, marketing and transport; chemicals manufacturing and sales; and power generation. Chevron is one of the world's six "supermajor" oil companies. For the past five years, Chevron has been continuously ranked as one of America's 5 largest corporations by Fortune 500.[3] In 2011 it was named the 16th largest public company in the world by Forbes Global 2000.[4][5]
Contents [hide]
1 History
2 Overview
3 Alternative energy
3.1 Electric Vehicles
3.2 Biofuels
3.3 Solar Power
4 Controversies
4.1 Great American streetcar scandal
4.2 Tax evasion
4.3 Blocking of NiMH battery technology for automobiles
4.4 Environmental damage in Ecuador
4.5 Pollution in Richmond, California
4.6 Oil spills in Angola
4.7 Violation of the Clean Air Act in the USA
4.8 Niger Delta shootings
4.9 Destruction of natural forest in Bangladesh
4.10 Investment in Iran
5 New policy and development
6 Board of directors
7 Marketing brands
7.1 Fuel
7.2 Convenience stores
7.3 Lubricants
7.4 Fuel additives
8 See also
9 References
10 External links
[edit]History

Chevron Corporation was originally known as Standard Oil Co. (California) and was formed amid the antitrust breakup of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil company in 1911. It was one of the "Seven Sisters" that dominated the world oil industry in the early 20th century. In 1926, the company was renamed Standard Oil Co. of California or Socal.[6][7] In 1933, Saudi Arabia granted SoCal a concession to find oil, and oil was found in 1938. In 1948, SoCal discovered the world's largest oil field (Ghawar) in Saudi Arabia.[8] SoCal's subsidiary, California-Arabian Standard Oil Company, developed over years, to become the Arabian American Oil Company (ARAMCO) in 1944. In 1973, the Saudi government began buying into ARAMCO. By 1980, the company was entirely owned by the Saudis, and in 1988, the name was changed to Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco).
Standard Oil of California and Gulf Oil merged in 1984, the largest merger in history at that time. Under the antitrust regulation, SoCal divested many of Gulf's operating subsidiaries, and sold some Gulf stations and a refinery in the eastern United States. SoCal changed the name to Chevron Corporation.[1]
In January 1996, NGC (formerly NYSE: NGL) and Chevron announced plans to merge Chevron’s natural gas and natural gas liquids business with NGC. On May 23, 1996, the companies reached an agreement in principle to merge their business. Under the agreement, Chevron transferred its natural gas gathering, operating and marketing operation to NGC in exchange for a roughly 25 percent equity stake in NGC. On August 30, shareholders approved the deal creating North America’s largest natural gas and gas liquids wholesaler. In 1998, NGC Corporation was renamed Dynegy (NYSE: DYN).[9][10]
In a merger completed February 1, 2000, Illinova Corp. (formerly NYSE: ILN) became a wholly owned subsidiary of Dynegy Inc., in which Chevron also took a 28% stake.[11] However, Chevron in May 2007 sold its roughly 12 percent (at the time) Class A common stock in the company for approximately $985 million, resulting in a gain of $680 million.[12][13]
On October 15, 2000 Chevron announced it would acquire Texaco (NYSE: TX) creating the second largest oil company in the United States and the world’s fourth-largest publicly traded oil company with a combined market value of approximately $95 billion. On October 9, 2001, the shareholders of Chevron and Texaco voted to approve the merger creating ChevronTexaco. The deal was valued at $45 billion.[14][15][16]
On May 9, 2005, ChevronTexaco announced it would drop the Texaco moniker and return to the Chevron name. Texaco remains as a brand under the Chevron Corporation.
On April 4, 2005, Chevron announced it planned to purchase Unocal Corporation (NYSE: UCL) for $18.4 billion increasing the company’s petroleum and natural gas reserves by about 15 percent. On August 10, 2005, Unocal Corporation shareholders approved Chevron’s acquisition of the company. The deal was valued at $18 billion.[17][18] Because of Unocal's large South East Asian geothermal operations, Chevron became the world's largest producer of geothermal energy.[19]
In July 2010, Chevron ended retail operations in the Mid Atlantic US, removing the Chevron and Texaco names from 1,100 stations in Delaware, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, New Jersey, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Washington, D.C., and parts of Tennessee.[20]
On November 9, 2010, Chevron announced it would acquire Pennsylvania based Atlas Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: ATLS) for $3.2 billion in cash and an additional $1.1 billion in existing debt owed by Atlas. On February 18, 2011, the shareholders of Atlas energy voted to approve the merger. The deal was valued at $4.3 billion.[21][22]
[edit]Overview

Chevron employs approximately 62,000 people worldwide (of which approximately 30,000 are employed in U.S. operations). As of December 31, 2010, Chevron had 10.545 billion barrels of oil-equivalent net proved reserves. Daily production in 2010 was 2.763 million net oil-equivalent barrels per day. The company has a worldwide marketing network in 84 countries with approximately 19,550 retail sites, including those of affiliate companies. The company also has interests in 13 power generating assets in the United States and Asia. Chevron also has gas stations in Western Canada[23] and operates the Burnaby Refinery.
Chevron was headquartered in San Francisco for nearly a century before it relocated across the bay to San Ramon, CA. The headquarters at 555 and 575 Market Street, built in the mid-1960s, in San Francisco were sold in December 1999.[24] Its original headquarters were at 225 Bush St., built in 1912.[25] Now, their headquarters are at 6001 Bollinger Canyon Road, San Ramon, CA.
Chevron is the owner of the Standard Oil trademark in 16 states in the western and southeastern U.S. To maintain ownership of the mark, the company owns and operates one Standard-branded Chevron station in each state of the area.[26] Additionally, Chevron owns the trademark rights to Texaco and CalTex fuel and lubricant products.[27] [28]
Several automakers, including General Motors and Toyota, use gasoline often from Chevron when they test vehicles. Ford uses Chevron gas also in North America, despite its strategic alliance with BP. Chevron also has often had one of the highest brand loyalty for gasoline in America, with only Shell and BP (through Amoco) having equally high loyalty.[citation needed]
Chevron Shipping Company is a wholly owned subsidiary company which provides the maritime transport operations, marine consulting services and marine risk management services for Chevron Corporation. The CSC operated fleet comprises crude oil and product tankers, crude lightering ships and liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers. The fleet is divided into two sections: The US fleet consists of four product tankers which transport oil product between Chevron refineries and oil products from Chevron refineries to US supply terminals. The ships are manned by US citizens and are flagged in the US. The International fleet vessels are primarily flagged in the Bahamas and have officers and crews from many different nations.[29] The largest ships are 320,000 tonne Very Large Crude Carriers VLCCs which carry two million barrels of crude oil. The job of the international fleet is to transport crude oil from the oilfields to the refineries. The international fleet mans one LNG tanker.[30]
Chevron ships historically had names beginning with "Chevron", such as the Chevron Washington and Chevron South America, or were named after former or serving directors of the company. Samuel Ginn, William E Crain, Kenneth Derr, Richard Matzke and most notably Condoleezza Rice were amongst those honored, but the ship named after Rice was subsequently renamed as Altair Voyager.[31] All the ships were renamed in 2001 following the corporate merger with Texaco. Ships in the international fleet are all named after celestial bodies or constellations, such as Orion Voyager and Altair Voyager and Capricorn Voyager. The US flagged ships are named after the states in the country, as in Washington Voyager and Colorado Voyager, Mississippi Voyager, Oregon Voyager and the California Voyager.[32] [33]
Chevron is a signatory participant of the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights.[34]
[edit]Alternative energy

The company is developing technology for alternative energy, including fuel cells, photovoltaics, advanced batteries, and hydrogen fuel for transport and power.
[edit]Electric Vehicles
Chevron may be squelching all access to large NiMH batteries through its control of patent licenses in order to remove a competitor to gasoline.[35] This culminated in a lawsuit against Panasonic and Toyota over production of the EV-95 battery used in the RAV4 EV[citation needed].
However, with the Lithium-ion battery, it appears there will be plenty of gas and electricity for all interested parties for the foreseeable future. Chevron owns Ovonics, the leading producer of Lithium Ion Batteries. Ovonics was purchased by Chevron-Texaco in 2001, reportedly so Chevron-Texaco could expand their business into the emerging hybrid market. But, some in the alternative energy field see an ulterior motive, so Chevron-Texaco can suppress the development of Lithium Ion Batteries. They feel this way because Ovonics has shown little interest in selling Lithium Ion Batteries to electric vehicle enthusiasts since purchasing the company.[36] Nevertheless, Ovonics does continue to work with commercial manufacturers.
[edit]Biofuels
Chevron is investing $300M USD a year into alternative fuel sources, and has created a biofuels business unit.[37][38]
Chevron and US-DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) announced that they had entered into a collaborative agreement to produce biofuels from algae. Chevron and NREL scientists would develop algae strains that can be economically harvested and processed into transportation fuels, such as jet fuel.[39]
[edit]Solar Power
Chevron has invested in Solar Power such as the 500 kW Solarmine photovoltaic solar project in Fellows, California, as well as the 1000 kW concentrated photovoltaic solar field in Questa, New Mexico.[40]
[edit]Controversies

[edit]Great American streetcar scandal
In 1950 three companies, General Motors, Firestone and Chevron, then known as "Standard Oil", were charged and convicted of criminal conspiracy for their part in the Great American streetcar scandal. The scandal involved purchasing streetcar systems throughout the United States and dismantling and replacing them with buses,[41] in order to increase their sales of petroleum, automobiles and tires.
[edit]Tax evasion
Chevron was found to have evaded $3.25 billion in federal and state taxes from 1970 to 2000 through a complex petroleum pricing scheme involving a project in Indonesia.[42] [43] Chevron and Texaco, before they merged in 2001, each owned 50 percent of a joint venture called Caltex, which pulled crude oil from the ground in a project with the Indonesian state oil company, Pertamina. Chevron was accused of reducing its tax liabilities in the U.S. by buying oil from Caltex at inflated prices. One internal Chevron document set the price it paid Pertamina for oil at $4.55 a barrel higher than the prevailing market price. Chevron was then able to overstate deductions for costs on its U.S. income tax returns. Indonesia appeared to levy tax on this oil at 56%, a rate far higher than the corporate tax rate in the U.S. Because the United States gives companies a credit for taxes paid to foreign governments, tax paid to the Indonesian government reduces tax to the U.S. government.
Caltex transferred fund out of the U.S. to Indonesia, because the Indonesian government compensated Caltex for the excessively priced oil and the extra taxes paid by giving oil for free. Because Caltex had to pay taxes on that oil, too, the Indonesian government gave it even more oil to cover the taxes.
[edit]Blocking of NiMH battery technology for automobiles
Main article: Patent encumbrance of large automotive NiMH batteries
ECD Ovonics founder, Stan Ovshinksy, and Dr. Masahiko Oshitani of the Yuasa Company, invented the NiMH technology used in hybrid vehicles .[44][45] In 1994, General Motors acquired a controlling interest in Ovonics's battery development and manufacturing business. On October 10, 2001, Texaco purchased GM's share in GM Ovonics, and Chevron completed acquisition of Texaco six days later. In 2003, Texaco Ovonics Battery Systems was restructured into Cobasys, a 50/50 joint venture between Chevron and Energy Conversion Devices (ECD) Ovonics.[46] Chevron's influence over Cobasys extends beyond a strict 50/50 joint venture. Chevron holds a 19.99% interest in ECD Ovonics.[47] In addition, Chevron maintains the right to seize all of Cobasys' intellectual property rights in the event that ECD Ovonics does not fulfill its contractual obligations.[48] On September 10, 2007, Chevron filed a legal claim that ECD Ovonics has not fulfilled its obligations. ECD Ovonics disputes this claim.[49] Since that time, the arbitration hearing was repeatedly suspended while the parties negotiate with an unknown prospective buyer. No agreement has been reached with the potential buyer.[50] Cobasys's patents relating to NiMH batteries expire in 2015.


Sometimes gas stations have restaurants in them, such as this one in Chilliwack, British Columbia, which has a White Spot inside it.
In her book, Plug-in Hybrids: The Cars that Will Recharge America, published in February 2007, Sherry Boschert argues that large-format NiMH batteries are commercially viable but that Cobasys refuses to sell the batteries or license the technology to small companies or individuals. Boschert argues that Cobasys accepts only very large orders for the batteries. Major automakers showed little interest in placing large orders for large-format NiMH batteries. However, Toyota complained about the difficulty in getting smaller orders of large format NiMH batteries to service the existing 825 RAV-4EVs. Because no other companies were willing to place large orders, Cobasys was not manufacturing or licensing large format NiMH battery technology for automobiles. Boschert concludes that "it's possible that Cobasys (Chevron) is squelching all access to large NiMH batteries through its control of patent licenses in order to remove a competitor to gasoline. Or it's possible that Cobasys simply wants the market for itself and is waiting for a major automaker to start producing plug-in hybrids or electric vehicles."[35]
In an interview with Economist, Ovshinsky subscribed to the former view. "I think we at ECD we made a mistake of having a joint venture with an oil company, frankly speaking. And I think it’s not a good idea to go into business with somebody whose strategies would put you out of business, rather than building the business."[51]
In December 2006, Cobasys and General Motors announced that they had signed a contract under which Cobasys provides NiMH batteries for the Saturn Aura hybrid sedan.[52] In March 2007, GM announced that it would use Cobasys NiMH batteries in the 2008 Chevrolet Malibu hybrid as well.
In October 2007, International Acquisitions Services and Innovative Transportation Systems filed suit against Cobasys and its parents for refusing to fill an order for large-format NiMH batteries to be used in the electric Innovan.[50]
In August 2008, Mercedes-Benz U.S. International filed suit against Cobasys, on the ground Cobasys did not tender the batteries it agreed to build for Mercedes-Benz’s planned hybrid SUV.[53]
[edit]Environmental damage in Ecuador

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From 1972 to 1993, Texaco operated development of the Lago Agrio oil field in Ecuador. Ecuadorian farmers and indigenous residents accused Texaco (now Chevron), of making residents ill and damaging forests and rivers by discharging 18 billion gallons of formation water into the rainforest, without any remediation. They sued Chevron for extensive environmental damage caused by these operations, which have sickened thousands of Ecuadorians and polluted the Amazon rainforest. The Ecuadorian court could have imposed a legal penalty of up to $28 billion in a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of Amazonian villagers in the region. Chevron claimed that agreements with the Ecuadorian Government exempted the company from any liabilities.[54][55][56] A documentary on the issue, Crude, premiered in September 2009.
From 1977 until 1992 Texaco (Texpet), a subsidiary of Texaco Inc., was a minority member of this consortium with Petroecuador, the Ecuadorian state-owned oil company, as the majority partner. Since 1990, the operations have been conducted solely by Petroecuador. At the conclusion of the consortium and following an independent third-party environmental audit of the area, Texaco formally agreed with the Republic of Ecuador and Petroecuador to conduct a three year remediation program at a cost of $40 million. The government subsequently granted Texpet and all related corporate entities a full release from any and all environmental liability arising from its operations.[54] Based on the history above, Chevron believes that "this lawsuit lacks legal or factual merit." However, water and soil samples taken by an Ecuadorean scientific team after Texaco departed in 1998 found almost half still contained unsafe levels of petroleum hydrocarbons.[57]
On 15 February 2011, a court in Ecuador fined Chevron $8.6 billion over pollution to the country's Amazon region by Texaco between 1972 and 1992, with campaigners claiming loss of crops and farm animals as well as increased local cancer rates.[57][58][59] The action was brought against Chevron by 30,000 Ecuadorean people, and is the first time that indigenous people have successfully sued a multinational corporation in the country where the pollution took place.[57][58] The trial had begun in 2003.[60] The total penalty imposed on Chevron is $9.5 billion as it was ruled that the oil company must pay an additional 10 per cent legally mandated reparations fee.[58] $27 billion was the sum total requested by plaintiffs, $18.4 billion more than was eventually granted by the court.[59] The Ecuadoreans expressed happiness that Chevron was declared guilty, though also expressed dismay that the award of $8.6 billion would not be enough to make up for the damage caused by the oil company.[61] However, environmental activists wish this case to serve as a precedent against pollution causing business being carried out by firms in developing countries.[58] Nonprofit organization Amazon Watch described the outcome of the case as "unprecedented".[61] Chevron described the lawsuit as an "extortion scheme" and refused to pay the fine.[57] Chevron has no international obligation to pay, and no assets in Ecuador for the government to seize.
[edit]Pollution in Richmond, California
Chevron’s activities at its century-old Richmond refinery have been the subject of ongoing controversy. The project generated over 11 million pounds of toxic materials and caused more than 304 accidents.[62] The Richmond refinery paid $540,000 in 1998 for illegally bypassing waste water treatments and failing to notify the public about toxic releases.[63] Overall, Chevron is listed as potentially liable for 95 Superfund sites, with funds set aside by the EPA for clean-up.[64] In October 2003, the state of New Hampshire sued Chevron and other oil companies for using MTBE, a gasoline additive that the attorney general claimed polluted much of the state's water supply.[65] The pollution created by the refinery has also had adverse health effects on the residents of Richmond, including relatively high rates of respiratory diseases and cancer when compared to the state and national averages, and the health issues related to emergency spills.[66]
[edit]Oil spills in Angola
Chevron's operations in Africa have also been criticized as environmentally unsound.[67] In 2002, Angola became the first country in Africa ever to levy a fine on a major multinational corporation operating within its borders, when it demanded $2 million in compensation for oil spills allegedly caused by Chevron.[68]
[edit]Violation of the Clean Air Act in the USA
On October 16, 2003, Chevron U.S.A. settled a charge under the Clean Air Act, which reduced harmful air emissions by about 10,000 tons a year.[69] In San Francisco, Chevron was filed by a consent decree to spend almost $275 million to install and utilize innovative technology to reduce nitrogen and sulfur dioxide emissions at its refineries.[70] After violating the Clean Air Act at an offline loading terminal in El Segundo, California, Chevron paid a $6 million penalty as well as $1 million for environmental improvement projects.[71] Chevron also had implemented programs that minimized production of hazardous gases, upgraded leak detection and repair procedure, reduced emissions from sulfur recovery plants, and adopted strategies to ensure the proper handling of harmful benzene wastes at refineries.[69] Chevron also spent about $500,000 to install leakless valves and double-sealed pumps at its El Segundo refinery, which could prevent significant emissions of air contaminants.[71]
Defenders of Chevron's environmental record point to recent changes in the corporation, particularly its pledge in 2004 to combat global warming.[72]
[edit]Niger Delta shootings
On May 25, 1998, over 100 activists staged a demonstration and occupied a barge servicing a company oil platform in the Niger Delta, Nigeria.[73] After demanding a meeting with the managing director of the company to express their grievances, they were eventually met by a Nigerian employee whose job was to liaise with the local communities. After speaking to the elders of the community on shore, the representative then informed the activists that Chevron would offer more jobs to local people on the project but as to their other demands he would have to get back to them in a few days.[73] Four days later, on May 28, 1998, activists saw Chevron helicopters flying in and, in the words of one activist, "We were looking at all these helicopters thinking that probably people inside these helicopters might have been Chevron reps who are actually coming to dialogue with us here."
In fact, the helicopters contained members of the Nigerian navy and police, who immediately began teargassing and shooting at the activists and subsequently two activists, Jola Ogungbeje and Aroleka Irowaninu, died from their wounds.[73] Chevron describes the situation as "a violent occupation of private property by aggressors seeking to extort cash payments from the company."[74] The Nigerian government is reportedly 80% dependent upon oil production and is condemned by many for its reported treatment of environmentalists.[75] The documentary "Drilling and Killing" covers these and other topics.
U.S. District Judge Susan Illston, in allowing a lawsuit brought by victims and their families against Chevron to proceed, said that there was evidence that Chevron had hired and provided transportation to Nigerian military forces known for their "general history of committing abuses."[76] In March 2008, the plaintiffs' lawyers, without explanation, "quietly moved to withdraw half of their claims" against Chevron.[77]
On December 1, 2008, a federal jury cleared Chevron of all charges brought against them in the case. The jury deliberated for almost two days. Chevron had claimed that the military intervention was necessary to protect the lives of its workers and considers the jury's decision vindication for the accusations of wrongdoing.[78]
[edit]Destruction of natural forest in Bangladesh
On 26 June 2008, a fire in Lawachhara (a natural forest; known to be highly rare of its kind in the region) had broken out as Chevron Corp. carried out a 3D seismic survey that was to be six-months long. The company had violated the conditions of government’s environment clearance certificate by not informing the ministry about the cracks that had previously occurred in nearby residents' properties due to explosions caused by the activities.[79]
[edit]Investment in Iran
One of the U.S. Embassy cables published by WikiLeaks, concerns a conversation which took place on March 19th, 2009, between the Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, and the U.S. chargé d'affaires.[80] One of the subjects discussed was the negotiation between the Iraqi Prime Minister and Chevron concerning a cross-border oilfield (Iran-Iraq), despite strict U.S. sanctions which state "US persons may not perform services, including financing services, or supply goods or technology that would benefit the Iranian oil industry." Chevron asserted that they had not engaged in any negotiations that would violate U.S. law.[81] This document was intended to have been kept secret until 2029.[80]
[edit]New policy and development



Chevron's 500kW Solarmine photovoltaic solar project in Fellows, California
Chevron has taken steps to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and pursue cleaner forms of energy.[82] It has scored highest among U.S. oil companies for investing in alternative energy sources and setting targets for reducing its own emissions[82] and is the world's largest producer of geothermal energy, providing enough power for over 7 million homes.[83]
Chevron is currently considering an floating liquefied natural gas facility to develop offshore discoveries in the Exmouth Plateau of Western Australia.[8

Chevron Corporation

Image by elycefeliz via Flickr
Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) is an American multinational energy corporation headquartered in San Ramon, California, United States and active in more than 180 countries. It is engaged in every aspect of the oil, gas, and geothermal energy industries, including exploration and production; refining, marketing and transport; chemicals manufacturing and sales; and power generation. Chevron is one of the world's six "supermajor" oil companies. For the past five years, Chevron has been continuously ranked as one of America's 5 largest corporations by Fortune 500.[3] In 2011 it was named the 16th largest public company in the world by Forbes Global 2000.[4][5]
Contents [hide]
1 History
2 Overview
3 Alternative energy
3.1 Electric Vehicles
3.2 Biofuels
3.3 Solar Power
4 Controversies
4.1 Great American streetcar scandal
4.2 Tax evasion
4.3 Blocking of NiMH battery technology for automobiles
4.4 Environmental damage in Ecuador
4.5 Pollution in Richmond, California
4.6 Oil spills in Angola
4.7 Violation of the Clean Air Act in the USA
4.8 Niger Delta shootings
4.9 Destruction of natural forest in Bangladesh
4.10 Investment in Iran
5 New policy and development
6 Board of directors
7 Marketing brands
7.1 Fuel
7.2 Convenience stores
7.3 Lubricants
7.4 Fuel additives
8 See also
9 References
10 External links
[edit]History

Chevron Corporation was originally known as Standard Oil Co. (California) and was formed amid the antitrust breakup of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil company in 1911. It was one of the "Seven Sisters" that dominated the world oil industry in the early 20th century. In 1926, the company was renamed Standard Oil Co. of California or Socal.[6][7] In 1933, Saudi Arabia granted SoCal a concession to find oil, and oil was found in 1938. In 1948, SoCal discovered the world's largest oil field (Ghawar) in Saudi Arabia.[8] SoCal's subsidiary, California-Arabian Standard Oil Company, developed over years, to become the Arabian American Oil Company (ARAMCO) in 1944. In 1973, the Saudi government began buying into ARAMCO. By 1980, the company was entirely owned by the Saudis, and in 1988, the name was changed to Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco).
Standard Oil of California and Gulf Oil merged in 1984, the largest merger in history at that time. Under the antitrust regulation, SoCal divested many of Gulf's operating subsidiaries, and sold some Gulf stations and a refinery in the eastern United States. SoCal changed the name to Chevron Corporation.[1]
In January 1996, NGC (formerly NYSE: NGL) and Chevron announced plans to merge Chevron’s natural gas and natural gas liquids business with NGC. On May 23, 1996, the companies reached an agreement in principle to merge their business. Under the agreement, Chevron transferred its natural gas gathering, operating and marketing operation to NGC in exchange for a roughly 25 percent equity stake in NGC. On August 30, shareholders approved the deal creating North America’s largest natural gas and gas liquids wholesaler. In 1998, NGC Corporation was renamed Dynegy (NYSE: DYN).[9][10]
In a merger completed February 1, 2000, Illinova Corp. (formerly NYSE: ILN) became a wholly owned subsidiary of Dynegy Inc., in which Chevron also took a 28% stake.[11] However, Chevron in May 2007 sold its roughly 12 percent (at the time) Class A common stock in the company for approximately $985 million, resulting in a gain of $680 million.[12][13]
On October 15, 2000 Chevron announced it would acquire Texaco (NYSE: TX) creating the second largest oil company in the United States and the world’s fourth-largest publicly traded oil company with a combined market value of approximately $95 billion. On October 9, 2001, the shareholders of Chevron and Texaco voted to approve the merger creating ChevronTexaco. The deal was valued at $45 billion.[14][15][16]
On May 9, 2005, ChevronTexaco announced it would drop the Texaco moniker and return to the Chevron name. Texaco remains as a brand under the Chevron Corporation.
On April 4, 2005, Chevron announced it planned to purchase Unocal Corporation (NYSE: UCL) for $18.4 billion increasing the company’s petroleum and natural gas reserves by about 15 percent. On August 10, 2005, Unocal Corporation shareholders approved Chevron’s acquisition of the company. The deal was valued at $18 billion.[17][18] Because of Unocal's large South East Asian geothermal operations, Chevron became the world's largest producer of geothermal energy.[19]
In July 2010, Chevron ended retail operations in the Mid Atlantic US, removing the Chevron and Texaco names from 1,100 stations in Delaware, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, New Jersey, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Washington, D.C., and parts of Tennessee.[20]
On November 9, 2010, Chevron announced it would acquire Pennsylvania based Atlas Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: ATLS) for $3.2 billion in cash and an additional $1.1 billion in existing debt owed by Atlas. On February 18, 2011, the shareholders of Atlas energy voted to approve the merger. The deal was valued at $4.3 billion.[21][22]
[edit]Overview

Chevron employs approximately 62,000 people worldwide (of which approximately 30,000 are employed in U.S. operations). As of December 31, 2010, Chevron had 10.545 billion barrels of oil-equivalent net proved reserves. Daily production in 2010 was 2.763 million net oil-equivalent barrels per day. The company has a worldwide marketing network in 84 countries with approximately 19,550 retail sites, including those of affiliate companies. The company also has interests in 13 power generating assets in the United States and Asia. Chevron also has gas stations in Western Canada[23] and operates the Burnaby Refinery.
Chevron was headquartered in San Francisco for nearly a century before it relocated across the bay to San Ramon, CA. The headquarters at 555 and 575 Market Street, built in the mid-1960s, in San Francisco were sold in December 1999.[24] Its original headquarters were at 225 Bush St., built in 1912.[25] Now, their headquarters are at 6001 Bollinger Canyon Road, San Ramon, CA.
Chevron is the owner of the Standard Oil trademark in 16 states in the western and southeastern U.S. To maintain ownership of the mark, the company owns and operates one Standard-branded Chevron station in each state of the area.[26] Additionally, Chevron owns the trademark rights to Texaco and CalTex fuel and lubricant products.[27] [28]
Several automakers, including General Motors and Toyota, use gasoline often from Chevron when they test vehicles. Ford uses Chevron gas also in North America, despite its strategic alliance with BP. Chevron also has often had one of the highest brand loyalty for gasoline in America, with only Shell and BP (through Amoco) having equally high loyalty.[citation needed]
Chevron Shipping Company is a wholly owned subsidiary company which provides the maritime transport operations, marine consulting services and marine risk management services for Chevron Corporation. The CSC operated fleet comprises crude oil and product tankers, crude lightering ships and liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers. The fleet is divided into two sections: The US fleet consists of four product tankers which transport oil product between Chevron refineries and oil products from Chevron refineries to US supply terminals. The ships are manned by US citizens and are flagged in the US. The International fleet vessels are primarily flagged in the Bahamas and have officers and crews from many different nations.[29] The largest ships are 320,000 tonne Very Large Crude Carriers VLCCs which carry two million barrels of crude oil. The job of the international fleet is to transport crude oil from the oilfields to the refineries. The international fleet mans one LNG tanker.[30]
Chevron ships historically had names beginning with "Chevron", such as the Chevron Washington and Chevron South America, or were named after former or serving directors of the company. Samuel Ginn, William E Crain, Kenneth Derr, Richard Matzke and most notably Condoleezza Rice were amongst those honored, but the ship named after Rice was subsequently renamed as Altair Voyager.[31] All the ships were renamed in 2001 following the corporate merger with Texaco. Ships in the international fleet are all named after celestial bodies or constellations, such as Orion Voyager and Altair Voyager and Capricorn Voyager. The US flagged ships are named after the states in the country, as in Washington Voyager and Colorado Voyager, Mississippi Voyager, Oregon Voyager and the California Voyager.[32] [33]
Chevron is a signatory participant of the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights.[34]
[edit]Alternative energy

The company is developing technology for alternative energy, including fuel cells, photovoltaics, advanced batteries, and hydrogen fuel for transport and power.
[edit]Electric Vehicles
Chevron may be squelching all access to large NiMH batteries through its control of patent licenses in order to remove a competitor to gasoline.[35] This culminated in a lawsuit against Panasonic and Toyota over production of the EV-95 battery used in the RAV4 EV[citation needed].
However, with the Lithium-ion battery, it appears there will be plenty of gas and electricity for all interested parties for the foreseeable future. Chevron owns Ovonics, the leading producer of Lithium Ion Batteries. Ovonics was purchased by Chevron-Texaco in 2001, reportedly so Chevron-Texaco could expand their business into the emerging hybrid market. But, some in the alternative energy field see an ulterior motive, so Chevron-Texaco can suppress the development of Lithium Ion Batteries. They feel this way because Ovonics has shown little interest in selling Lithium Ion Batteries to electric vehicle enthusiasts since purchasing the company.[36] Nevertheless, Ovonics does continue to work with commercial manufacturers.
[edit]Biofuels
Chevron is investing $300M USD a year into alternative fuel sources, and has created a biofuels business unit.[37][38]
Chevron and US-DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) announced that they had entered into a collaborative agreement to produce biofuels from algae. Chevron and NREL scientists would develop algae strains that can be economically harvested and processed into transportation fuels, such as jet fuel.[39]
[edit]Solar Power
Chevron has invested in Solar Power such as the 500 kW Solarmine photovoltaic solar project in Fellows, California, as well as the 1000 kW concentrated photovoltaic solar field in Questa, New Mexico.[40]
[edit]Controversies

[edit]Great American streetcar scandal
In 1950 three companies, General Motors, Firestone and Chevron, then known as "Standard Oil", were charged and convicted of criminal conspiracy for their part in the Great American streetcar scandal. The scandal involved purchasing streetcar systems throughout the United States and dismantling and replacing them with buses,[41] in order to increase their sales of petroleum, automobiles and tires.
[edit]Tax evasion
Chevron was found to have evaded $3.25 billion in federal and state taxes from 1970 to 2000 through a complex petroleum pricing scheme involving a project in Indonesia.[42] [43] Chevron and Texaco, before they merged in 2001, each owned 50 percent of a joint venture called Caltex, which pulled crude oil from the ground in a project with the Indonesian state oil company, Pertamina. Chevron was accused of reducing its tax liabilities in the U.S. by buying oil from Caltex at inflated prices. One internal Chevron document set the price it paid Pertamina for oil at $4.55 a barrel higher than the prevailing market price. Chevron was then able to overstate deductions for costs on its U.S. income tax returns. Indonesia appeared to levy tax on this oil at 56%, a rate far higher than the corporate tax rate in the U.S. Because the United States gives companies a credit for taxes paid to foreign governments, tax paid to the Indonesian government reduces tax to the U.S. government.
Caltex transferred fund out of the U.S. to Indonesia, because the Indonesian government compensated Caltex for the excessively priced oil and the extra taxes paid by giving oil for free. Because Caltex had to pay taxes on that oil, too, the Indonesian government gave it even more oil to cover the taxes.
[edit]Blocking of NiMH battery technology for automobiles
Main article: Patent encumbrance of large automotive NiMH batteries
ECD Ovonics founder, Stan Ovshinksy, and Dr. Masahiko Oshitani of the Yuasa Company, invented the NiMH technology used in hybrid vehicles .[44][45] In 1994, General Motors acquired a controlling interest in Ovonics's battery development and manufacturing business. On October 10, 2001, Texaco purchased GM's share in GM Ovonics, and Chevron completed acquisition of Texaco six days later. In 2003, Texaco Ovonics Battery Systems was restructured into Cobasys, a 50/50 joint venture between Chevron and Energy Conversion Devices (ECD) Ovonics.[46] Chevron's influence over Cobasys extends beyond a strict 50/50 joint venture. Chevron holds a 19.99% interest in ECD Ovonics.[47] In addition, Chevron maintains the right to seize all of Cobasys' intellectual property rights in the event that ECD Ovonics does not fulfill its contractual obligations.[48] On September 10, 2007, Chevron filed a legal claim that ECD Ovonics has not fulfilled its obligations. ECD Ovonics disputes this claim.[49] Since that time, the arbitration hearing was repeatedly suspended while the parties negotiate with an unknown prospective buyer. No agreement has been reached with the potential buyer.[50] Cobasys's patents relating to NiMH batteries expire in 2015.


Sometimes gas stations have restaurants in them, such as this one in Chilliwack, British Columbia, which has a White Spot inside it.
In her book, Plug-in Hybrids: The Cars that Will Recharge America, published in February 2007, Sherry Boschert argues that large-format NiMH batteries are commercially viable but that Cobasys refuses to sell the batteries or license the technology to small companies or individuals. Boschert argues that Cobasys accepts only very large orders for the batteries. Major automakers showed little interest in placing large orders for large-format NiMH batteries. However, Toyota complained about the difficulty in getting smaller orders of large format NiMH batteries to service the existing 825 RAV-4EVs. Because no other companies were willing to place large orders, Cobasys was not manufacturing or licensing large format NiMH battery technology for automobiles. Boschert concludes that "it's possible that Cobasys (Chevron) is squelching all access to large NiMH batteries through its control of patent licenses in order to remove a competitor to gasoline. Or it's possible that Cobasys simply wants the market for itself and is waiting for a major automaker to start producing plug-in hybrids or electric vehicles."[35]
In an interview with Economist, Ovshinsky subscribed to the former view. "I think we at ECD we made a mistake of having a joint venture with an oil company, frankly speaking. And I think it’s not a good idea to go into business with somebody whose strategies would put you out of business, rather than building the business."[51]
In December 2006, Cobasys and General Motors announced that they had signed a contract under which Cobasys provides NiMH batteries for the Saturn Aura hybrid sedan.[52] In March 2007, GM announced that it would use Cobasys NiMH batteries in the 2008 Chevrolet Malibu hybrid as well.
In October 2007, International Acquisitions Services and Innovative Transportation Systems filed suit against Cobasys and its parents for refusing to fill an order for large-format NiMH batteries to be used in the electric Innovan.[50]
In August 2008, Mercedes-Benz U.S. International filed suit against Cobasys, on the ground Cobasys did not tender the batteries it agreed to build for Mercedes-Benz’s planned hybrid SUV.[53]
[edit]Environmental damage in Ecuador

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From 1972 to 1993, Texaco operated development of the Lago Agrio oil field in Ecuador. Ecuadorian farmers and indigenous residents accused Texaco (now Chevron), of making residents ill and damaging forests and rivers by discharging 18 billion gallons of formation water into the rainforest, without any remediation. They sued Chevron for extensive environmental damage caused by these operations, which have sickened thousands of Ecuadorians and polluted the Amazon rainforest. The Ecuadorian court could have imposed a legal penalty of up to $28 billion in a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of Amazonian villagers in the region. Chevron claimed that agreements with the Ecuadorian Government exempted the company from any liabilities.[54][55][56] A documentary on the issue, Crude, premiered in September 2009.
From 1977 until 1992 Texaco (Texpet), a subsidiary of Texaco Inc., was a minority member of this consortium with Petroecuador, the Ecuadorian state-owned oil company, as the majority partner. Since 1990, the operations have been conducted solely by Petroecuador. At the conclusion of the consortium and following an independent third-party environmental audit of the area, Texaco formally agreed with the Republic of Ecuador and Petroecuador to conduct a three year remediation program at a cost of $40 million. The government subsequently granted Texpet and all related corporate entities a full release from any and all environmental liability arising from its operations.[54] Based on the history above, Chevron believes that "this lawsuit lacks legal or factual merit." However, water and soil samples taken by an Ecuadorean scientific team after Texaco departed in 1998 found almost half still contained unsafe levels of petroleum hydrocarbons.[57]
On 15 February 2011, a court in Ecuador fined Chevron $8.6 billion over pollution to the country's Amazon region by Texaco between 1972 and 1992, with campaigners claiming loss of crops and farm animals as well as increased local cancer rates.[57][58][59] The action was brought against Chevron by 30,000 Ecuadorean people, and is the first time that indigenous people have successfully sued a multinational corporation in the country where the pollution took place.[57][58] The trial had begun in 2003.[60] The total penalty imposed on Chevron is $9.5 billion as it was ruled that the oil company must pay an additional 10 per cent legally mandated reparations fee.[58] $27 billion was the sum total requested by plaintiffs, $18.4 billion more than was eventually granted by the court.[59] The Ecuadoreans expressed happiness that Chevron was declared guilty, though also expressed dismay that the award of $8.6 billion would not be enough to make up for the damage caused by the oil company.[61] However, environmental activists wish this case to serve as a precedent against pollution causing business being carried out by firms in developing countries.[58] Nonprofit organization Amazon Watch described the outcome of the case as "unprecedented".[61] Chevron described the lawsuit as an "extortion scheme" and refused to pay the fine.[57] Chevron has no international obligation to pay, and no assets in Ecuador for the government to seize.
[edit]Pollution in Richmond, California
Chevron’s activities at its century-old Richmond refinery have been the subject of ongoing controversy. The project generated over 11 million pounds of toxic materials and caused more than 304 accidents.[62] The Richmond refinery paid $540,000 in 1998 for illegally bypassing waste water treatments and failing to notify the public about toxic releases.[63] Overall, Chevron is listed as potentially liable for 95 Superfund sites, with funds set aside by the EPA for clean-up.[64] In October 2003, the state of New Hampshire sued Chevron and other oil companies for using MTBE, a gasoline additive that the attorney general claimed polluted much of the state's water supply.[65] The pollution created by the refinery has also had adverse health effects on the residents of Richmond, including relatively high rates of respiratory diseases and cancer when compared to the state and national averages, and the health issues related to emergency spills.[66]
[edit]Oil spills in Angola
Chevron's operations in Africa have also been criticized as environmentally unsound.[67] In 2002, Angola became the first country in Africa ever to levy a fine on a major multinational corporation operating within its borders, when it demanded $2 million in compensation for oil spills allegedly caused by Chevron.[68]
[edit]Violation of the Clean Air Act in the USA
On October 16, 2003, Chevron U.S.A. settled a charge under the Clean Air Act, which reduced harmful air emissions by about 10,000 tons a year.[69] In San Francisco, Chevron was filed by a consent decree to spend almost $275 million to install and utilize innovative technology to reduce nitrogen and sulfur dioxide emissions at its refineries.[70] After violating the Clean Air Act at an offline loading terminal in El Segundo, California, Chevron paid a $6 million penalty as well as $1 million for environmental improvement projects.[71] Chevron also had implemented programs that minimized production of hazardous gases, upgraded leak detection and repair procedure, reduced emissions from sulfur recovery plants, and adopted strategies to ensure the proper handling of harmful benzene wastes at refineries.[69] Chevron also spent about $500,000 to install leakless valves and double-sealed pumps at its El Segundo refinery, which could prevent significant emissions of air contaminants.[71]
Defenders of Chevron's environmental record point to recent changes in the corporation, particularly its pledge in 2004 to combat global warming.[72]
[edit]Niger Delta shootings
On May 25, 1998, over 100 activists staged a demonstration and occupied a barge servicing a company oil platform in the Niger Delta, Nigeria.[73] After demanding a meeting with the managing director of the company to express their grievances, they were eventually met by a Nigerian employee whose job was to liaise with the local communities. After speaking to the elders of the community on shore, the representative then informed the activists that Chevron would offer more jobs to local people on the project but as to their other demands he would have to get back to them in a few days.[73] Four days later, on May 28, 1998, activists saw Chevron helicopters flying in and, in the words of one activist, "We were looking at all these helicopters thinking that probably people inside these helicopters might have been Chevron reps who are actually coming to dialogue with us here."
In fact, the helicopters contained members of the Nigerian navy and police, who immediately began teargassing and shooting at the activists and subsequently two activists, Jola Ogungbeje and Aroleka Irowaninu, died from their wounds.[73] Chevron describes the situation as "a violent occupation of private property by aggressors seeking to extort cash payments from the company."[74] The Nigerian government is reportedly 80% dependent upon oil production and is condemned by many for its reported treatment of environmentalists.[75] The documentary "Drilling and Killing" covers these and other topics.
U.S. District Judge Susan Illston, in allowing a lawsuit brought by victims and their families against Chevron to proceed, said that there was evidence that Chevron had hired and provided transportation to Nigerian military forces known for their "general history of committing abuses."[76] In March 2008, the plaintiffs' lawyers, without explanation, "quietly moved to withdraw half of their claims" against Chevron.[77]
On December 1, 2008, a federal jury cleared Chevron of all charges brought against them in the case. The jury deliberated for almost two days. Chevron had claimed that the military intervention was necessary to protect the lives of its workers and considers the jury's decision vindication for the accusations of wrongdoing.[78]
[edit]Destruction of natural forest in Bangladesh
On 26 June 2008, a fire in Lawachhara (a natural forest; known to be highly rare of its kind in the region) had broken out as Chevron Corp. carried out a 3D seismic survey that was to be six-months long. The company had violated the conditions of government’s environment clearance certificate by not informing the ministry about the cracks that had previously occurred in nearby residents' properties due to explosions caused by the activities.[79]
[edit]Investment in Iran
One of the U.S. Embassy cables published by WikiLeaks, concerns a conversation which took place on March 19th, 2009, between the Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, and the U.S. chargé d'affaires.[80] One of the subjects discussed was the negotiation between the Iraqi Prime Minister and Chevron concerning a cross-border oilfield (Iran-Iraq), despite strict U.S. sanctions which state "US persons may not perform services, including financing services, or supply goods or technology that would benefit the Iranian oil industry." Chevron asserted that they had not engaged in any negotiations that would violate U.S. law.[81] This document was intended to have been kept secret until 2029.[80]
[edit]New policy and development



Chevron's 500kW Solarmine photovoltaic solar project in Fellows, California
Chevron has taken steps to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and pursue cleaner forms of energy.[82] It has scored highest among U.S. oil companies for investing in alternative energy sources and setting targets for reducing its own emissions[82] and is the world's largest producer of geothermal energy, providing enough power for over 7 million homes.[83]
Chevron is currently considering an floating liquefied natural gas facility to develop offshore discoveries in the Exmouth Plateau of Western Australia.[8