Chevron's story dates back to an 1876 oil discovery at Pico Canyon in the rugged Santa Susana Mountains, north of Los Angeles. This find led to the 1879 formation of Chevron's earliest predecessor, the Pacific Coast Oil Co.
Another part of our history begins with the 1901 founding of The Texas Fuel Co. (later known as Texaco) and its historic oil discovery two years later at Sour Lake, Texas. These companies and other members of the Chevron family have been instrumental in transforming the oil business into today's global energy industry.
Throughout the 20th century, Chevron and Texaco experienced dynamic growth in the United States and internationally. In 1984, Standard Oil Co. of California, Chevron's immediate predecessor, acquired Gulf Corporation in a $13.3 billion merger. At the time, it was the largest acquisition in corporate history. That same year, Texaco purchased Getty Oil and gained 1.9 billion barrels in proved reserves of crude oil and 2.8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves.
Chevron and Texaco formed a number of partnerships, most notably Caltex Corp. in 1936. The 2001 merger of Chevron and Texaco was a natural outgrowth of a successful history of teamwork. In 2005, Chevron acquired Unocal Corp.
Advancing Health and Safety
Chevron continues to demonstrate its commitment to advancing health initiatives, protecting the environment and promoting safety.
In the Gulf of Mexico alone, our upstream operations achieved some significant safety milestones in 2010, including:
- A 33 percent reduction in the total recordable incident rate. This is attributed to our renewed focus on key safety programs: Managing Safe Work, Person Leading Work, Contractor Health, Environment and Safety Management, and Accountability.
- From July 2005 through July 2010, Aircraft Operations has safely flown more than 120,000 helicopter hours, made more than 700,000 trips and transported more than a million passengers without a single incident.
- As of June 2010, the Hatters Pond Gas Plant and Field, 30 minutes from Mobile, Alabama, has operated successfully for 30 years without a recordable injury. That's equivalent to 1 million worker hours.
- The Shorebase and Marine Transportation unit, which covers three shorebases, completed another year of incident-free operations in 2010.
Our molybdenum mines in Questa and McKinley, New Mexico, shared the 2010 Safety Innovator of the Year Award, presented by the New Mexico Mining Association. The Questa Mine also received an award for Rescue Response from the New Mexico Mining Association and the New Mexico Bureau of Mine Safety.
In 2009, Chevron won the Air Conservationist of the Year Award from the Alabama Wildlife Federation for the voluntary installation of control equipment to reduce air emissions.
Chevron also received the National Ocean Industries Association 2008 Safety in Seas Award for our outstanding contribution to the safety of offshore energy workers. The award focuses on Chevron's hurricane restoration work.
Our workers also received the Bureau of Land Management State Directors' Operator of the Year Award for our operations in the Lost Hills Field in California. And our San Ardo, California, operations received the Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources 2007 Certificate of Award for Outstanding Commitment to Environmental Protection and Efficient Enhanced Oil Recovery. The state of Wyoming honored us with the Governor's Safety Award for operations at Carter Creek and the Painter Reservoir Unit.
Updated: March 2011