Upstream Earnings for the upstream segment are closely aligned with industry prices for crude oil and natural gas. Crude oil
and natural gas prices are subject to external factors over which the company has no control, including product demand
connected with global economic conditions, industry inventory levels, production quotas or other actions imposed by the
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), weather-related damage and disruptions, competing fuel prices, and
regional supply interruptions or fears thereof that may be caused by military conflicts, civil unrest or political uncertainty.
Any of these factors could also inhibit the company’s production capacity in an affected region. The company closely
monitors developments in the countries in which it operates and holds investments, and seeks to manage risks in operating its
facilities and businesses. The longer-term trend in earnings for the upstream segment is also a function of other factors,
including the company’s ability to find or acquire and efficiently produce crude oil and natural gas, changes in fiscal terms of
contracts, and changes in tax laws and regulations.
The company continues to actively manage its schedule of work, contracting, procurement and supply-chain activities to
effectively manage costs. However, price levels for capital and exploratory costs and operating expenses associated with the
production of crude oil and natural gas can be subject to external factors beyond the company’s control including, among
other things, the general level of inflation, commodity prices and prices charged by the industry’s material and service
providers, which can be affected by the volatility of the industry’s own supply-and-demand conditions for such materials and
services. In recent years, Chevron and the oil and gas industry generally experienced an increase in certain costs that
exceeded the general trend of inflation in many areas of the world. As a result of the decline in prices of crude oil and other
commodities in 2014, these cost pressures are beginning to soften. Capital and exploratory expenditures and operating
expenses can also be affected by damage to production facilities caused by severe weather or civil unrest.