- Chevron's (CVX -1.9%) top priority is maintaining a dividend that’s “competitive and growing,” CFO Patricia Yarrington said in today's earnings conference call, but WSJ's Maxwell Murphy writes that the company needs a surge in cash flow to maintain its dividend and capital spending.
- In its Q1 earnings report, CVX said its operating cash flow was $2.3B - less than a quarter of its combined capex and dividend; the company's $33.9B debt now tops that of rival Exxon (NYSE:XOM) even though CVX has roughly half the annual revenue.
- Yarrington said CVX will take a multi-pronged approach to generating enough cash, boosting cash flow through production growth while trimming its cost structure and capex budget, and selling assets; she said CVX had disposed of $10B in assets over the past 16 months, putting it well on track to achieve its $15B four-year plan.