Key Highlights

  • Third-quarter Earnings reached USD 9.9 billion, or USD 5.06 per diluted share, compared with USD 3.5 billion a year earlier.
  • Adjusted earnings were USD 10.4 billion, or USD 5.28 per share, versus USD 1.85 per share in the prior-year quarter.
  • Operating cash flow was USD 16.0 billion, free cash flow USD 12.0 billion, and net Debt fell USD 7.8 billion.
  • U.S. refineries set a record 1.09 million barrels per day of crude throughput at nearly 98% utilization.

Refining Strength Lifts Third-Quarter Profit

Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) reported third-quarter 2026 earnings of USD 9.9 billion, up from USD 3.5 billion in the same quarter of 2025 and below USD 12.1 billion in the second quarter. Diluted Earnings per Share were USD 5.06 against USD 1.82 a year earlier. Reported results included a legal reserve of USD 160 million, an Impairment of USD 110 million and pension settlement costs of USD 24 million, while currency effects reduced earnings by USD 143 million. Stripping out those items gives adjusted earnings of USD 10.4 billion.

The company attributed the annual increase to reliable operations, higher margins on refined product sales and higher Crude Oil realizations, partly offset by unfavorable timing effects of USD 1.6 billion as prices rose. The average Brent Spot Price was USD 97 per barrel, compared with USD 69 a year earlier and USD 104 in the second quarter.

Downstream Profit Quadruples as Upstream Output Slips

Downstream earnings reached USD 4.9 billion versus USD 1.1 billion a year earlier, with the U.S. segment contributing USD 3.6 billion on higher margins. International refined product sales fell 9% from the year-ago period because of Supply disruptions tied to the Middle East conflict.

Upstream earnings were USD 5.7 billion, up from USD 3.3 billion in the third quarter of 2025. Net oil-equivalent production was 3.98 million barrels per day, below 4.09 million a year earlier, reflecting lower entitlements at higher prices and Middle East disruption. Records in Australia, growth in the Gulf of America and one month of Venezuela output after a switch to Equity accounting partly offset the decline. U.S. production topped 2 million barrels of oil equivalent per day for a fifth consecutive quarter.

Capital Returns, Bakken Restructuring and Venezuela Plans

Chairman and chief executive Mike Wirth said the company is reinvesting to add energy to a supply-constrained market. Chevron's Venezuela joint ventures plan to invest USD 7 billion over five years, and management has outlined a goal of roughly 600,000 barrels per day of output there by 2031. The company's chief financial officer put total cost, Capital and operating combined, below USD 20 per barrel.

In the Bakken, new agreements cut Midstream costs by about 50%. The arrangement is scheduled to close at the end of the fourth quarter, deconsolidating USD 3.7 billion of debt and producing a one-time, non-cash, after-tax loss of USD 3 billion to USD 4 billion that the company would treat as a special item. The rig count moves from three to two at year end while output holds at 180,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

Signposts for the Coming Quarters

The board declared a quarterly Dividend of USD 1.78 per share, payable December 10, 2026 to holders of record on November 18. Management is maintaining share repurchases within a range of USD 2.5 billion to USD 3 billion and said full-year capital spending is trending toward the low end of guidance, with fourth-quarter spending higher than the third.

Details of the 2027 capital program are scheduled for December after a board meeting. Items to watch include discussions on extending the Tengizchevroil concession, the accounting at the Bakken closing and the pace of restarting Venezuelan drilling.