Chevron acquires Guyana oil assets


Chevron, America’s second-largest oil company, has announced it’s buying fellow US producer Hess for a cool $53B, the biggest deal in Chevron history.

Where’s the international intrigue?

  1. 🛢️ This is yet another big bet on oil, shrugging off the International Energy Agency’s recent forecasts that peak oil is on the horizon
  2. 🤝 It’s another sign the sector is consolidating, as more players struggle with higher interest rates and lower economies of scale, and
  3. 🇬🇾 It’s another big bet on Guyana (where Hess has a stake), with the South American country discovering 11 billion barrels of oil and gas in the past decade.

Intrigue’s take: Every past energy transition has been slow, uneven and contested. And we’ve generally seen more of an energy addition rather than transition: oil and gas overtook coal six decades ago, yet coal consumption has since tripled.

We say this not to claim how the world ought to be, but as a reminder of how it is. Speaking of which, there’s evidence we don’t have a lot of time.

Also worth noting:

  • The IEA says about $2.8T will be invested in the global energy sector this year, with $1.7T going to clean tech and the remainder towards coal, oil and gas.
Latest Author Articles
Why the world is having fewer babies

Why are a bunch of ex-diplomats talking about babies and birth rates? Sure, it’s like a mango sorbet palate-cleanser amid all the war and rumours of war. But natality is also one of those slow-moving forces that can completely transform our world. How? Last century, the dominant narrative was that populations were too big, with leaders in China, Vietnam […]

11 June, 2025
Xi and Trump talk for the first time

Sometimes, the shortest press releases generate the most headlines.   Take Thursday’s press release from China’s state broadcaster: “Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday held phone talks with U.S. President Donald Trump at the latter’s request.”  As you’d expect, given the feverish geopolitical climate of today, those 18 words were enough to trigger a visceral reaction in any US-China […]

6 June, 2025
Meet South Korea’s new president

It’s been a tumultuous six months for South Korea. One failed martial law declaration, one impeachment, and three acting presidents later, and South Koreans finally have a permanent president again. Opposition candidate Lee Jae-myung from the left-leaning Democratic Party of Korea won yesterday’s election with 49% of the vote, defeating Kim Moon-soo from the ruling People […]

4 June, 2025
The five spiciest quotes from this year’s Shangri-La Dialogue

It’s finally June, and you know what that means! Summer’s The Shangri-La Dialogue is finally back, bringing together generals, leaders, security folks, and academics from 47 countries.  Here are five of the most intriguing quotes from this year’s summit:   In keeping with the tone of Trump 2.0, Hegseth’s keynote speech was anything but low-key.  Stay on top […]

2 June, 2025