Chevron CEO details strategy to shield consumers from soaring AI power costs
Mike Wirth discusses company's plan to build off-grid energy parks using natural gas to meet soaring data center demand
Chevron CEO Mike Wirth touts record growth, $27B shareholder returns despite lower oil prices
Chevron CEO Mike Wirth joins ‘Mornings with Maria’ to discuss record oil production, rising dividends and the company’s long-term growth strategy.
Chevron CEO Mike Wirth detailed the company’s strategy to harness U.S. natural resources to meet soaring artificial intelligence power demand — without passing the cost along to consumers.
"As data centers need more and more electricity, and as we’re seeing pressure on the grid and electricity prices, we’re working to build an energy park that’s not connected to the grid, so the costs don’t flow to all consumers," Wirth told "Mornings with Maria," describing the approach as an advantage that allows the company to "convert energy into intelligence."
Wirth joined FOX Business on Monday to discuss Chevron’s record performance and long-term growth strategy as artificial intelligence drives unprecedented demand for reliable electricity.
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Chevron CEO Mike Wirth gives the keynote address as top energy executives and ministers meet in Houston for the annual Gastech conference in Houston, Texas, on Sept. 17, 2024. (Reuters/Callaghan O'Hare / Reuters)
He said the company is leveraging the "tremendous resource" of U.S. natural gas to generate power directly for hyperscale data centers, bypassing the traditional electric grid and insulating the public from higher electricity costs.
"This is another advantage where you can convert energy into intelligence, and the abundance of energy that this country has can translate not only into energy dominance but into AI dominance," Wirth told Maria Bartiromo.
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Flared natural gas is burned off at Apache Corporation's operations at the Deadwood natural gas plant in the Permian Basin on Feb. 5, 2015, in Garden City, Texas. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Chevron revealed plans in 2025 to develop an off-grid natural gas facility in West Texas designed to generate electricity for large-scale data centers without relying on the traditional power grid.
The company previously announced a partnership with activist investment firm Engine No. 1 and GE Vernova to explore natural gas-powered solutions aimed at supporting the rapid expansion of AI and data center infrastructure in the United States.
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The discussion comes as Chevron posted a record year of oil production that helped offset the pinch of lower oil prices.
Wirth said the company’s free cash flow rose 35%, along with a series of other financial gains, even as oil prices fell by 15%.
