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Mike Wirth, who has seen many booms and busts over the more than 40 years he has been with the energy giant, said that “when the world stops using oil and gas, we’ll stop looking for it.”
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On the day Jordyn Holman interviewed Chevron’s chief executive, the average price of gas was $3.13 a gallon.
Aug. 31, 2025, 5:01 a.m. ET
“We don’t create demand, we meet demand.”
That’s how Mike Wirth, the chief executive of Chevron, describes the way his company works. So long as the world is using oil and gas, Chevron and others have a responsibility to provide those fuels affordably and reliably, he said, “because it advances human progress.”
Chevron, the second-largest oil company in the United States behind Exxon, pumped a record amount of oil and gas last quarter, about 3.4 million barrels a day. President Trump has promised to make it easier for oil companies to get permits for even more drilling. Chevron also recently completed a $53 billion acquisition of Hess after prevailing in a protracted legal battle with its rival Exxon.
But not all is well. The International Energy Agency has predicted that global demand for oil and gas could peak by the end of the decade. Oil prices have fallen as plentiful supplies meet weaker demand, in part because of the economic turmoil generated by Mr. Trump’s trade war. Chevron’s profits have drifted downward along with oil prices, which many analysts expect will continue falling.
Mr. Wirth, who joined Chevron more than 40 years ago and has led the company since 2018, is making changes that he says will set the company up for the future. Last year, he moved Chevron’s headquarters to oil-rich Texas from California, where it was based since its founding in the 1870s. This year, the company announced it would lay off up to 20 percent of its work force, or around 9,000 people, by the end of 2026.
And while the Trump administration has embraced fossil fuels and sidelined climate efforts, oil companies like Chevron still must consider the long-term effects of their operations and their relevance as renewable energy advances and countries push to electrify their economies.
“There are trade-offs, there is judgment involved and there are competing societal priorities and interests,” Mr. Wirth, 64, said.
