As oil prices fluctuate and headlines focus on short-term market signals, Chevron is making it clear that its strategy is built on something much more durable: efficiency, technology, and long-cycle demand.
In recent remarks, CEO Mike Wirth outlined how Chevron is reshaping its operating model—not by chasing higher prices, but by fundamentally changing how barrels are produced and how natural gas fits into the next phase of global energy demand.
Operational Efficiency: Doing More With Less
One of the clearest messages from Chevron was that rig count is no longer the right metric for judging activity or performance.
Over the past decade, Chevron has driven dramatic efficiency gains:
- Shale breakeven costs have fallen from $70–$80 per barrel to less than half that level
- Improvements in drilling speed, well spacing, and completion design now allow a single rig to drill far more footage per day than in the past
- Standardization and simplified project designs have reduced capital intensity across both shale and deepwater developments
The result is a structurally different business. Chevron can maintain—or even grow—production with fewer rigs, lower capital spend, and stronger free cash flow through commodity cycles. In today’s environment, feet drilled and wells completed per day matter more than headline rig counts.
What the 2025 U.S. Drilling Data Shows
Chevron’s 2025 U.S. wells drilled data reinforces this message with real-world execution.
Total wells drilled (USA – 2025):
- 437 wells
Wells drilled by play (grouped by county):
- Permian Basin: 214 wells
- Bakken: 107 wells
- DJ Basin: 86 wells
- Other / Unknown: 30 wells
Chevron’s drilling program is clearly Permian-led, with meaningful scale maintained in the Bakken and DJ Basin. This concentration reflects Chevron’s preference for repeatable, high-efficiency development in core operating areas rather than broad exploratory drilling.
Contractor and Rig Concentration by Play
The contractor and rig data further highlights Chevron’s manufacturing-style approach.
Permian Basin – Top Contractor & Rigs
- Patterson 289 – 26 wells
- Patterson 815 – 25 wells
- Patterson 284 – 24 wells
Chevron’s Permian program is highly concentrated around a small group of rigs, reinforcing standardization, repeatability, and cost control.
Bakken – Top Contractor & Rigs
- Nabors X28 – 29 wells
- Nabors X10 – 28 wells
- Nabors X24 – 25 wells
In the Bakken, Chevron’s reliance on high-spec Nabors rigs signals pad development and optimized drilling cycles.
DJ Basin – Top Contractor & Rigs
- H&P 517 – 45 wells
- True 41 – 41 wells
DJ activity is especially concentrated, indicating focused development programs rather than scattered activity.
Steady Cadence, Not Price-Chasing
Grouping wells by Activity Date shows a remarkably steady drilling cadence throughout the year:
- January: 30
- February: 39
- March: 40
- April: 52 (peak)
- May: 35
- June: 36
- July: 45
- August: 28
- September: 27
- October: 39
- November: 35
- December: 31
Rather than ramping up or pulling back sharply, Chevron maintained a consistent program—exactly what you would expect from a company optimizing long-cycle investments instead of reacting to short-term price signals.
Artificial Intelligence: Early Days, Major Upside
While Chevron’s current efficiency gains are driven primarily by engineering discipline, the company sees artificial intelligence as the next major accelerator.
Chevron is still in the early stages of deploying AI at scale, but the opportunity is significant. With massive datasets spanning subsurface analysis, drilling, completions, and production, AI is expected to:
- Improve exploration success rates
- Optimize operational decisions
- Increase recovery from existing assets
Importantly, Chevron views AI as a force multiplier, not a replacement for engineering expertise—enhancing already efficient systems rather than reinventing them.
Gas-Powered Growth: Data Centers Change the Demand Equation
One of the most forward-looking elements of Chevron’s strategy is its move into natural gas–fired power for data centers.
Chevron is developing gigawatt-scale gas-powered generation in West Texas, with large turbines scheduled for delivery starting next year. The company is already in discussions with multiple customers to site data centers near this infrastructure.
This demand is structurally different from traditional energy consumption:
- Data centers require 24/7 baseload power
- Reliability is non-negotiable
- Long-term contracts align well with Chevron’s investment horizons
For Chevron, this creates a durable growth pathway linking upstream natural gas directly to AI, cloud computing, and digital infrastructure.
The Bigger Picture: Efficiency Meets Structural Demand
Chevron’s message is consistent across operations, technology, and markets:
- Operational efficiency lowers costs and sustains margins
- AI enhances performance and asset value over time
- Gas-powered data centers create long-term, non-cyclical demand
This is not a pivot away from oil and gas—it is an evolution of how oil and gas underpin the modern economy, from wells and pipelines to power generation and digital infrastructure.
Chevron is betting that the winners of the next decade will be companies that combine discipline, technology, and demand visibility. Based on both management commentary and 2025 drilling data, that strategy is already showing up in execution.
