Chevron to move its headquarters from California to Texas

August 3, 2024

By JOSH FRIEDMAN

Amid a corporate exodus from the Golden State, oil major Chevron Corp. has announced it will move its headquarters from California to Texas. [LA Times]

Founded 145 years ago in California, Chevron, the second largest United States oil company, is presently headquartered in the East Bay Area city of San Ramon. Chevron will soon relocate its headquarters to Houston.

Some operations, along with hundreds of employees, will remain in San Ramon, Chevron CEO Mike Wirth said. But, Chevron expects to move all of its corporate functions to Houston over the next five years.

Previously, the company moved its subsidiary, Chevron Energy Technology, to Texas. Two years ago, Chevron sold its San Ramon campus as it began shifting jobs to Houston. Chevron already has about 7,000 employees in the Houston area.

Last fall, California’s attorney general sued Chevron and several other big oil companies, alleging their production and refining operations have caused billions of dollars worth of damage. The suit also claimed the oil companies have deceived the public about the risk of fossil fuels in global warming.

Chevron’s move to Texas comes amid a trend of large corporations fleeing California. Recently, Elon Musk said he is relocating SpaceX and X from California to Texas. Likewise, over the last decade, numerous other companies in tech and other industries have fled California, with many attributing their moves to the state’s high operating costs and policies that are not supportive of business.

In a statement, Chevron said its move to Texas would allow the company to “co-locate with other senior leaders and enable better collaboration and engagement with executives, employees and business partners.”