Strategy: Grow profitably by using our competitive advantages to maximize value from existing assets and capture new opportunities.
We are well positioned to continue to grow profitably by maximizing the value of our current assets, developing our large inventory of major capital projects, adding resources for the future and applying technology in ways that differentiate us from our competitors.
Long-Term Growth
In the upstream, we are developing legacy assets that are expected to deliver growth and production throughout the decade. Over the next three years, we expect to start up eight major capital projects, each representing a net investment to Chevron of at least $1 billion. Over the same period, we expect to make a final investment decision on another 12 major capital projects with the same level of investment.
We also expect growth in our downstream business. A major base oil project at our Pascagoula, Mississippi, refinery is expected to make us the leading supplier of premium base oil when it is completed in 2013.
Exploration
During the year, we acquired more than 12 million new acres in exploration opportunities, paving the way for tomorrow's growth. The acreage covers a number of new deepwater areas, including the Pearl River Mouth Basin of the South China Sea, Liberia and the Black Sea. We also acquired new acreage in the Beaufort Sea offshore Canada. In eastern Venezuela, we were awarded rights to participate in a heavy oil project in the Orinoco Oil Belt.
Shale Gas
We are building a legacy position in natural gas produced from shale formations. Early in 2011, we completed our acquisition of Atlas Energy, Inc., which has premier acreage primarily in southwestern Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale. We also are developing natural gas from the Haynesville shale formation in Texas. Shale gas has become an increasingly important source of natural gas as technologies have advanced for horizontal drilling and well stimulation.
To learn more about our growth opportunities, go to our Upstream and Downstream discussions. For a look at how we are using technology to grow our business, go to our discussion on Technology.
Posted: April 2011