Chevron moving its headquarters from California to Texas
Chevron Corporation announced Friday it would relocate its headquarters from its California home of more than 140 years to Texas before the end of the year.
The oil giant has often been at odds with California state regulators and politicians over fossil fuels and climate change. Last year, the state sued U.S. oil companies including Chevron, the nation's second-largest, claiming they deceived the public about the risks of fossil fuels.
Chevron CEO Mike Wirth says the company differs from California on energy policy and regulation.
"We believe California has a number of policies that raise costs, that hurt consumers, that discourage investment and ultimately we think that's not good for the economy in California and for consumers," Wirth told the Wall Street Journal.
Chevron has operated its headquarters from San Ramon, about 34 miles east of San Francisco in Contra Costa County, since 2002. It moved to the East Bay from its previous headquarters in San Francisco where it had been located since 1879 with the incorporation of the Pacific Coast Oil Company.
Chevron will now be headquartered in Houston, where it already has several thousand employees. In 2022, Chevron sold its sprawling San Ramon campus and began moving workers to its Houston offices, saying at the time it would keep its headquarters in California.
The company issued a statement today saying the headquarters relocation would be completed before the end of 2024, "to co-locate with other senior leaders and enable better collaboration and engagement with executives, employees, and business partners."
"There will be minimal immediate relocation impacts to other employees currently based in San Ramon," said Chevron in a statement published on its website. "The company expects all corporate functions to migrate to Houston over the next five years. Positions in support of the company's California operations will remain in San Ramon."
The move follows other companies that have recently relocated their operations from California to Texas or announced plans for a move. Last month, Elon Musk announced he would move the headquarters of both his social media company X and space telecommunications firm SpaceX to Texas in response to a new California law banning school districts from requiring parents to be notified if their child asks to change their gender identification. Musk had previously moved his Tesla headquarters from Palo Alto, California to Austin, Texas in 2021.
Other companies that moved to Texas from California in recent years include Oracle, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Charles Schwab, and Toyota Motor North America. A report earlier this year from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas says Texas is ranked No. 1 for net job gains from businesses relocating to the state from 2010 to 2019, with most of those jobs coming from California. More than 25,000 businesses and 281,000 jobs came to Texas, compared to some 18,000 businesses and 179,000 jobs that left the state, according to the report.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott hailed Chevron's decision to relocate in a social media post.
"WELCOME HOME Chevron! Texas is your true home. Drill baby drill," said Abbott.
The Houston Mayor's Office said on X that the move is "Great for Houston!"
Chevron said it has about 7,000 employees in the Houston area and approximately 2,000 employees in San Ramon. The company operates crude oil fields, technical facilities, and two refineries and supplies more than 1,800 retail stations in California.
In 2012, an explosion and fire tore through Chevron's refinery in Richmond, California, sending thousands of people affected by the smoke to local hospitals. The company pleaded no contest to criminal charges related to the fire, agreed to submit to additional oversight, and agreed to pay $2 million in fines and restitution.
The Richmond refinery has been recently plagued by a series of flaring incidents and in February, Bay Area air quality regulators announced a pair of settlements with Chevron and another East Bay refinery to meet stricter emissions standards by 2026.
Last month, a California jury returned a $63 million verdict against Chevron after finding it covered up a toxic chemical pit on land purchased by a man who built a house on it and was later diagnosed with blood cancer.
This is a breaking news update. More information to be added as available.
