Oil company Chevron (CVX) is making some moves in a bid to streamline operations and, hopefully, save some cash as well. And it is starting right at the head of the company, altering its leadership team and changing some key business structures. Investors were modestly pleased, sending shares up fractionally in Monday afternoon’s trading.
Chevron has plans to lay off one in five of its workers by the end of 2026, reports noted, thanks to a combination of surging costs and slowdowns in a key project in Kazakhstan. And with its plans to acquire Hess for $53 billion facing troubles as a key competitor, Exxon Mobil (XOM) takes it on, that is leaving Chevron bleeding cash and desperately needing to staunch the flow.
Thus, among other things, Chevron is bringing its Oil, Products and Gas operations into two branches: Upstream and Downstream, Midstream & Chemicals. The technical center, reports note, is also getting a revamping with a new vice president in charge, Ryder Booth. Further, Chevron looks to cut $3 billion in costs through 2026, with a new hub in India set to become its largest tech operation that is not in the United States.
Hooking Leviathan
Meanwhile, at the vast Israeli natural gas deposit known as Leviathan, Chevron is getting ready to tackle that project harder than normal. Several of Chevron’s partners are getting ready to ramp up, including a set of new production wells, improvements to offshore operations, and possibly, reports note, a fourth pipeline altogether.
The Leviathan field can be found roughly 80 miles from Haifa’s coast, and is considered “…the most stable and strongest energy hub in the Mediterranean.” Leviathan has actually been producing since 2019, reports note, though recent events have dialed back potential production expansions. With those events seemingly near an end—there is still a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas at last report—Chevron seems inclined to fire things back up.
Is Chevron a Buy or Sell Today?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on CVX stock based on 13 Buys and three Holds assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 6.61% rally in its share price over the past year, the average CVX price target of $177 per share implies 12.27% upside potential.
