Mike Wirth, the CEO and chairman of Chevron, has predicted that oil and gas will continue to be in demand for the foreseeable future.
Wirth was speaking in an interview with The New York Times. Chevron, which also makes the Texaco grease and lubricant range, produced a record 3.4 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil last quarter. It is the United States’ second-biggest oil major after ExxonMobil, and it recently completed its acquisition of Hess in a deal worth $53 billion.
With the company still investing in oil and gas production, Wirth was asked how this fit with the predictions of the International Energy Agency (IEA). He said the organisation may be wrong about oil demand peaking by the end of the decade. Should it prove correct, however, he said demand was more likely to plateau rather than rapidly diminish, adding:
“Demand is going to be around for a long, long time. Oil production is what’s known as a depletion business. As we produce barrels, they can’t be produced again. You have to invest in new supply, even if demand’s not growing.”
He also pointed out that Chevron was also investing in alternatives like renewable fuels and hydrogen. Despite a rapidly growing market for them, though, he said they were starting from a small base. He added that the company needed to react to demand as it is now and adapt as demand changes. He said the company would stop searching for oil and gas when the world stops using it.
