By Sabrina Valle
HOUSTON (Reuters) – Chevron Corp Chief Executive Michael Wirth on Tuesday expressed concern over the “tragic situation” unfolding in Ukraine, forcing oil companies to make “very difficult decisions” on continued operations in Russia.
Rivals BP Plc, Shell Plc and Equinor have halted or abandoned business ventures and investments over Russia’s invasion of its neighbor.
“We try to respect the host governments of wherever we work,” Wirth said in remarks broadcast on CBNC on Tuesday. “A number of other companies had to take very difficult decisions. We have very little exposure to Russia as a company, but these are very difficult decisions to be made.”
Chevron holds a 15% interest in the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), a crude oil line that moves oil from Russia and Kazakhstan oilfields.
The pipeline exported 1.1 million bpd of crude from Kazakhstan and 200,000 bpd from Russia in 2021. Chevron also has a 50% stake in Tengizchevroil (TCO), which is developing the Tengiz and Korolev crude oil fields in western Kazakhstan.
“We have had no indications from any government that operations of the Caspian pipeline consortium are likely to be interrupted,” Wirth told reporters earlier Tuesday. “Beyond the Caspian Pipeline, we really have no other exposure to Russia and none to Ukraine.”
Chief Financial Officer Pierre Breber told analysts on a call that Chevron is expecting “strong free cash flow generation coming out of TCO.”
(Reporting by Sabrina Valle)
