Chevron, the oil giant founded 145 years ago in California, announced Friday that it is moving its headquarters from the Bay Area to Houston.
The announcement, which also included news of a senior management shakeup, did not come as a complete surprise given that the second-largest U.S. oil company, based in San Ramon, has been in conflict with California over the company's aggressive climate policies.
Chevron said in a statement that the move would allow the company to “work with other senior leaders and enable greater 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.
Elon Musk recently announced that he is moving SpaceX and X from California to Texas. Over the past decade, dozens of other California companies from the technology and other sectors have left the state. Many blame the state’s high operating costs and other policies that they see as unfriendly to business.
Last fall, California sued Chevron and several other major oil companies, alleging that their production and refining operations have caused billions of dollars in damages and that they have misled the public by downplaying the risks of fossil fuels on global warming. Chevron CEO Mike Wirth has opposed the lawsuit and California's approach to climate change.
Wirth and Chevron Vice Chairman Mark Nelson will relocate to Houston by the end of the year. “There will be minimal direct impact to other employees currently based in San Ramon,” Chevron said in its statement. Some operations will remain in San Ramon, but the company said it expects all corporate functions to move to Houston over the next five years.
Chevron traces its origins to September 1879, when a group of explorers and traders founded the Pacific Coast Oil Co.
The company currently operates crude oil fields, engineering facilities and two refineries in California, supplying more than 1,800 retail outlets in the state.
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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
