Energy giant Chevron announced its high-tailing it out of San Ramon, California, and heading straight to Houston, Texas. With approximately 2,000 employees in California, Chevron is packing up all its corporate staff who aren’t chained to California operations and shipping them off to Houston over the next five years.
California’s politicians have spent 30 years enacting laws and regulations to push oil and gas companies out. While Chevron didn’t directly criticize California in its announcement, it did say it’s moving to Houston to “co-locate with other senior leaders and enable better collaboration and engagement with executives, employees, and business partners.” Translation: They’re tired of California’s nonsense and want to be where the energy big shots play.
In its release, Chevron also mentioned its ambitions to expand its oil and gas business, reduce the carbon intensity of its operations, and develop lower-carbon ventures in renewable fuels, carbon capture and offsets, hydrogen, and other emerging technologies.
While signing SB 1137 into law, California Gov. Gavin Newsom slammed oil companies for caring more about their billions in profits than the health of children suffering from asthma, birth defects, and toxic chemical exposure. He made it clear that these greedy oil producers would rather risk public health than sacrifice a single cent, all while pushing for a bill to cap their profits. Newsome emphasized that California will hold these corporations accountable, starting with implementing a price gouging penalty to prevent extreme gas price spikes like the one experienced last fall. Based on Newsome comments, it’s no wonder Chevron is fleeing.
Chevron CEO Michael Wirth, appearing on CNBC to justify the departure, said, “California is discouraging investment in the energy that runs its economy.”
Chevron and other energy companies were flirting with the idea of putting a measure on the ballot to roll back SB 1137, a 2022 law that threw a wrench in their plans by limiting oil and gas wells within 3,200 feet of schools and homes. But after splurging $20 million on gathering enough signatures, they decided to yank the measure and head to court instead, where they believe voters can’t be misled by “unfounded claims.”
Chevron’s departure follows closely on the heels of Elon Musk’s decision to move X and SpaceX to Texas. Musk’s decision came after Newsom signed a bill banning parental notification for gender change requests from K-12 students. Texas is well on its way to becoming the new haven for companies fleeing California’s “draconian” regulations.
