The announcement, which also included news of a reshuffling of senior management, was not a complete surprise given that the second largest U.S. oil company, based in San Ramon, has been battling with California over its aggressive climate change policies.
Chevron, in its statement, said the move would allow the company to “co-locate with other senior leaders and enable better collaboration and engagement with executives, employees, and business partners.” Chevron already has about 7,000 employees in the Houston area.
Chevron has about 2,000 employees in San Ramon. It is the latest high-profile departure of a California company to another state.
Recently Elon Musk said he is moving SpaceX and X from California to Texas, and over the last decade there have been scores of other California companies in tech and other industries that have fled the state, with many attributing it to the state’s high operating costs and other policies that they see as not supportive of business.
Last fall California sued Chevron and several other big oil companies, alleging that their production and refining operations have caused billions of dollars in damage and that they deceived the public by downplaying the risks of fossil fuels in global warming. Chevron’s chief executive, Mike Wirth, has pushed back against the suit and California’s approach to climate change
