Chevron CEO Foresees Price Pressure on Crude Oil in 2026 Due to Increased OPEC+ Supply
By Naija Enquirer Staff
Oil major, Chevron, has expressed concern about the consequences of increasing supply frequency by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, known as OPEC+.
According to Chevron Corp. Chief Executive Officer Mike Wirth, increased oil supply from OPEC+ will continue to put pressure on crude prices next year, while liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices will likely fall later in the decade.
“Oil prices in 2026 are likely to feel more pressure than LNG prices,” Wirth said in an interview with Bloomberg TV. “There’s a lot of oil supply that’s coming back from the OPEC+ countries that have been holding supply back.”
The CEO’s comments followed the unveiling of Chevron’s five-year plan, which proposes to focus on profitability over production growth through 2030. The plan aims to grow free cash flow at a 14 per cent compound annual rate through the period with crude priced at $70 a barrel. Wirth stressed the portfolio’s resilience, saying, “We’ve built a portfolio that will withstand the cycles of this business.”
Regarding gas markets, Chevron expects strong, “linear” demand increases for LNG globally but sees lower prices at the end of the 2020s due to a surge in supply, particularly from the Gulf Coast and the Middle East. Wirth concluded, “There’s a period of time when it would appear we’re going to see more supply coming into the market than demand will be able to absorb. That probably results in lower spot prices.”
