Chevron Corporation has announced it will relocate its company headquarters from California to Texas, along with making some senior leadership changes.
After 145 years, the company’s headquarters will move from San Ramon, CA, to Houston, TX. There will be minimal immediate relocation impacts to other employees currently based in San Ramon.
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. Chevron currently 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.
Along with the relocation announcement, Chevron announced leadership changes.
After 35 years with the company, Nigel Hearne, executive vice president, Oil, Products & Gas, will retire. Effective October 1, 2024, Vice Chairman Mark Nelson will take over this role.
After 31 years, Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer Rhonda Morris will also retire. Effective January 1, 2025, Michelle Green, vice president, Human Resources, Oil, Products & Gas, will succeed Morris.
Finally, Colin Parfitt, vice president, Midstream, will retire after 29 years. Effective October 1, 2024, current President, America’s Products Andy Walz will become president, Downstream, Midstream & Chemicals. Walz will be responsible for directing the company’s worldwide manufacturing, marketing, lubricants, chemicals and additives businesses along with Chevron’s shipping, pipeline, power, and trading units.
Before the end of of the year, Nelson and Chevron Chairman and CEO Mike Wirth will move to Houston to co-locate with other senior leaders and enable better collaboration and engagement with executives, employees, and business partners.
According to Bloomberg.com, Wirth said the relocation is not driven by politics, rather “it’s really to be closer to the core epicenter of our industry.”
“Houston is the energy capital of the world,” Wirth said. “It’s a natural place for companies in our industry to have their home office and headquarters.”
The Chevron announcement is part of trend of headquarters relocations to Texas over the past decade. From 2015 through April 2024, a total of 297 companies relocated their headquarters to Texas, bringing with them more than 6,490 jobs, according to Texas Economic Development & Tourism. Of these total headquarters relocations, 149 were corporate moves from California.
