Chevron Q3 Earnings Call Highlights

Key Points

• Strong operating performance: Chevron reported $9.9 billion in third-quarter earnings, $10.4 billion in adjusted earnings and $14.2 billion in adjusted free cash flow, supported by record U.S. refinery throughput and production near 4 million barrels per day.
• Balance-sheet and capital priorities: The company reduced debt by more than $3 billion, increased cash by over $4 billion and maintained its $2.5 billion–$3 billion buyback range while keeping its existing capital-allocation framework.
• Growth opportunities expanding: Chevron plans to double production from its Venezuelan joint ventures to roughly 600,000 barrels per day by 2031, while also increasing exploration spending by 50% and expanding its use of artificial intelligence across operations.

Chevron NYSE: CVX reported third-quarter 2026 earnings of $9.9 billion, or $5.06 per share, as record U.S. refinery crude throughput and nearly 4 million barrels per day of production helped support operating performance. Adjusted earnings totaled $10.4 billion, or $5.28 per share, while cash flow from operations excluding working capital was $16.6 billion.

Chairman and CEO Mike Wirth said the company delivered its fifth consecutive quarter of U.S. upstream production above 2 million barrels per day. Chevron also recorded strong results across its refining network, natural-gas portfolio and major international assets, while advancing growth options in Venezuela, Angola, Iraq and other regions.

Financial Results and Capital Priorities

CFO Eimear Bonner said adjusted earnings declined $1.6 billion from the prior quarter. Upstream earnings were lower because of reduced realizations, lower liftings and unfavorable timing effects, partly offset by lower depreciation, depletion and amortization expense and tax effects. Downstream earnings increased as higher refining margins and volumes outweighed unfavorable timing effects.

Chevron generated $14.2 billion of adjusted free cash flow during the quarter. It reduced debt by more than $3 billion and increased cash by more than $4 billion, ending the period with net debt to cash flow from operations of 0.4 times.

Organic capital expenditures were $3.9 billion in the quarter. Bonner said fourth-quarter spending is expected to rise from third-quarter levels, though Chevron still expects to finish 2026 at the low end of its annual capital-spending guidance.

Management said it does not plan to change its capital-allocation framework despite its strengthened balance sheet. Bonner reiterated Chevron’s priorities of growing its dividend, investing efficiently, maintaining a strong balance sheet and repurchasing shares through the cycle. The company maintained its buyback range of $2.5 billion to $3 billion.

“We’re on track with our 2030 plan that we guided in the investor day,” Bonner said, adding that Chevron expects to provide more detail on its 2027 capital program following a December board meeting.

Venezuela Expansion and International Growth

Chevron outlined plans to increase gross production from its three Venezuelan joint ventures to roughly 600,000 barrels per day by 2031, from about 300,000 barrels per day expected by year-end. Wirth said the program would rely on primary recovery, be self-funding and could extend further into the 2030s.

The company expects total costs in Venezuela to be below $20 per barrel, including capital and operating costs. Bonner said Chevron does not anticipate major new infrastructure spending to support the production increase, describing the program as a “factory-like operation” that could become more efficient over time.

Wirth said revised fiscal terms have made Venezuela more competitive in Chevron’s portfolio and immediately accretive to free cash flow. Chevron markets all crude produced from the three ventures, with most volumes going to U.S. refineries including Pascagoula and El Segundo.

Addressing risk in the country, Wirth cited contract provisions including stability clauses and international arbitration. He also said Chevron’s control of crude marketing and revenue flows, along with its intention to fund development through venture-generated cash flow, differentiates the current arrangement from prior structures.

Elsewhere, Chevron said it continues negotiations on an extension of its Tengizchevroil, or TCO, concession in Kazakhstan. Wirth said discussions have progressed over more than a year, with technical, commercial and legal teams narrowing the issues to “fundamental core issues.” He said the company sees no red flags but did not offer a timeline for an agreement.

Operations, Refining and the Permian

Chevron reported a quarterly natural-gas production record of more than 9 billion cubic feet per day, led by Australia and the Eastern Mediterranean. The company also cited record quarterly deepwater production in the U.S. Gulf of America, its sixth consecutive quarter of Permian output above 1 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, and TCO operations near full rates in recent months.

Vice Chairman Mark Nelson said debottlenecking projects have added more than 85,000 barrels per day of upstream capacity. Chevron increased capacity at TCO’s third-generation plant by 20%, lifting total processing capacity to slightly above 1 million barrels per day. Capacity additions at Ballymore and Anchor also supported Gulf of America output.

In refining, Chevron achieved record quarterly U.S. crude throughput. Nelson said a proprietary catalyst deployed at its largest U.S. refineries raised distillate yields by more than 10%. U.S. distillate yield reached 46% in the third quarter, while Pascagoula achieved a diesel-production record over at least the past three to four years, according to Nelson.

The company accelerated debottlenecking at its Pasadena refinery to raise capacity by about 15% at what Nelson called nominal cost. Chevron also expects to increase Pascagoula refining capacity by another 7% by 2030.

In the Bakken, Chevron expects a restructuring of Hess Midstream contracts to reduce tariffs by 50%, improve upstream returns, expand economic inventory and provide greater operating flexibility. The company plans to reduce its rig count from three to two by year-end while sustaining 180,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. Chevron expects the transaction to close at the end of the fourth quarter and record a one-time, non-cash after-tax loss of $3 billion to $4 billion as a special item related to deconsolidation accounting.

Technology and Exploration

Chevron said artificial intelligence is becoming a growing contributor to its operations, with more than $100 million of value captured year to date. The company is using AI in production engineering, well design, capital-project scoping, refinery planning, reliability and exploration analysis.

Nelson said Chevron’s ApEx system draws on four petabytes of data and roughly a century of company knowledge to compile basin information in hours rather than months. Its ScoutAI tool is being deployed across 10 new basins to conduct basin assessments in hours rather than weeks.

Chevron has added 22 million acres over the past two years, doubling its exploration footprint and entering 12 new basins. The company reported 15 infrastructure-led discoveries over two years, with a 40% success rate, and plans to increase exploration spending by 50% compared with 2025.

Nelson said Chevron expects to drill around 20 exploration wells annually over time, split roughly evenly between infrastructure-led and frontier opportunities. The company highlighted an Angola discovery that it believes could be developed as a tieback to its Sanha facility.

About Chevron (NYSE:CVX)

Chevron Corporation NYSE: CVX is an integrated energy company engaged in the exploration, development, production, transportation and sale of crude oil and natural gas. Its upstream operations include oil and gas exploration and production, while its downstream business includes refining crude oil, marketing fuels and manufacturing and distributing lubricants, petrochemicals and fuel additives.

The company also invests in lower-carbon businesses and technologies, including renewable fuels, carbon capture and storage, hydrogen and other opportunities intended to reduce emissions from its operations and energy products.

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