Wednesday 8 March 2017

Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) hosted its annual security analyst meeting in New York where executives highlighted the company's growing free cash flow from its advantaged portfolio.

“We intend to be cash balanced in 2017, and to grow free cash flow in the years thereafter,” said John Watson, Chevron’s chairman and chief executive officer. “We're finishing projects under construction, which adds revenue and reduces spend. We’re concentrating our new investments on short cycle-time, high-return opportunities from our advantaged positions such as the Permian basin.” Watson noted 75 percent of the company’s 2017 capital budget is expected to generate cash within the next two years.

Watson reinforced the company’s priority to maintain and grow the dividend and to keep a strong balance sheet through commodity price cycles. “We’ve increased the annual dividend 29 years in a row. We recognize our shareholders value a growing distribution and a prudent balance sheet.”

Jay Johnson, executive vice president, upstream, reviewed Chevron’s upstream opportunities. “We’re focused on improving returns. We’ll do this by operating safely and reliably, successfully starting-up and ramping-up projects, and high-grading our investment opportunities. Gorgon, Wheatstone and other projects are progressing well, and we’re now pivoting to the Permian basin where we see ultimate production potential exceeding 700,000 barrels per day within a decade.”

Additionally Johnson said, “We are confident in our ability to grow production and cash margins.”