Chevron Corp., plans to shed assets in the Caribbeanand sell some of its
downstream operations, including the Pembroke refinery, in an effort to
streamline its loss-making downstream portfolio. Pembroke refinery is
located in Wales. The plant processes about 210,000 barrels of crude daily.
Chevron also said on tuesday that it plans to cut 2,000 jobs in 2011 in a
move to realize savings in its refining operations, as the recent setbacks
in the business of making gasoline and diesel fuel will persist beyond
2010. The job cuts would be about 3% of the company's worldwide staff.
This includes service station employees and workers in its U.S.
operations.
According to reports, plans are already set to solicit bids for
operations in Europe, the Caribbean and select Central America markets.
Operations in Hawaii and Africa, outside of South Africa are also being
reviewed.
Chevron presently spends about $60 million daily to find crude and build
offshore platforms to exploit previous discoveries.
Chief Executive Officer John Watson, who succeeded David O’Reilly as CEO
in January 2010 is battling with collapsing demand for gasoline and
diesel, and a mounting exploration failure rate. He said separately that
he had anticipated a substantial rise in oil and gas production in the
middle of the coming decade as the portfolio shifts toward Asia and
natural gas.
Chevron reported a slide in its profit in the recent fourth quarter,
showing losses in its downstream business due to lower sales margins
for gasoline and other refined products, amid weak demand and excess
supply globally
Chevron presently spends about $60 million daily to find crude and build
offshore platforms to exploit previous discoveries.
A public filing revealed that Chevron failed to discover oil, in about
three exploration wells drilled last year. In 2008, the failure rate was
10 percent.
The company’s 6.3 percent profit margin in 2009 exceeded that of The Hague-
based Royal Dutch Shell Plc, which earned 4.5 cents on every dollar of
sales, ConocoPhillips of Houston, which had a 3.3 percent margin, and
Norway’s Statoil ASA and Calgary- based Suncor Energy Inc.,
Chevron spent $2.43 million a day last year on equipment and repairs
required to comply with U.S. environmental rules on air and water
pollution, a public filing showed.
