Chevron lands in Carlsbad as CEO warns of physical oil shortages

Chevron flew from Midland, Texas, to Carlsbad, New Mexico, on May 14, a 28-minute hop that put the company's Boeing Business Jet (N884GL) over the heart of the Permian Basin. The short flight from one oil-patch airport to another suggests a site visit to Chevron's operations in the Delaware Basin, where the company holds extensive acreage.

The trip comes the same week Chevron Chairman and CEO Mike Wirth warned that physical oil shortages are beginning to emerge, telling a Milken Institute conference that “demand needs to move to meet supply” as the Strait of Hormuz closure chokes off 20% of global crude flows, per an Energy Connects report. With global inventories at eight-year lows and jet fuel prices surging, Chevron's focus on domestic production is a logical response.

The Carlsbad visit follows a multi-city tour: over the previous three days, the same aircraft flew from Houston to Denver, Kansas City, Toronto, Chicago, and back to Houston before heading to Midland. The pattern points to a leadership review of Chevron's key assets as the company navigates what Wirth called “potentially as big as the 1970s” supply crisis.