Chevron Announces First Oil Production From Frade Field in Brazil

The estimated $3 billion project, with continuing development drilling, is expected to achieve peak production of 90,000 barrels of crude oil and natural gas liquids per day in 2011.

"Successful development of the Frade Field unlocks a great new source of energy for the next two decades while establishing a significant platform from which Chevron can grow its upstream business within one of the world's most promising deepwater oil and gas regions," said George Kirkland, Chevron's executive vice president for Upstream and Gas.

Chevron has a 51.74 percent operating interest in the Frade Field, which contains an estimated 200 million to 300 million barrels of recoverable oil. The field is situated in the Campos Basin in approximately 3,700 feet (1,128 m) of water, approximately 230 miles (370 km) northeast of Rio de Janeiro. Frade is a subsea development with wells tied back to a floating production, storage and offloading vessel. Crude oil production is planned to be exported to world markets, and natural gas production is expected to be provided for domestic use in Brazil.

Other partners in the project are Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras, 30 percent; and Frade Japao Petroleo Ltda., a joint-vehicle company of INPEX, Sojitz and JOGMEC, 18.26 percent.

Ali Moshiri, president of Chevron Africa and Latin America Exploration and Production Co., said, "Today's milestone is a direct result of the coordinated expertise and commitment demonstrated by our employees, partners and contractors in Brazil and around the world. Frade is an exciting asset that integrates the unique skills of both Chevron and Petrobras to help deliver new jobs, new facilities and new energy production in Brazil for Chevron."

Chevron Corporation is one of the world's leading integrated energy companies, with subsidiaries that conduct business worldwide. The company's success is driven by the ingenuity and commitment of approximately 62,000 employees who operate across the energy spectrum. Chevron explores for, produces and transports crude oil and natural gas; refines, markets and distributes transportation fuels and other energy products; manufactures and sells petrochemical products; generates power and produces geothermal energy; provides energy efficiency solutions; and develops the energy resources of the future, including biofuels and other renewables. Chevron is based in San Ramon, Calif. More information about Chevron is available at www.chevron.com.

Cautionary Statement Relevant to Forward-Looking Information for the Purpose of "Safe Harbor" Provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

Some of the items discussed in this press release are forward-looking statements about Chevron's activities in Brazil. Words such as "anticipates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "targets," "projects," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "budgets" and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. The statements are based upon management's current expectations, estimates and projections; are not guarantees of future performance; and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond the company's control and are difficult to predict. Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are changes in prices of, demand for and supply of crude oil and natural gas; actions of competitors; continued development of the field; the potential disruption or interruption of production and development activities due to war, accidents, political events, civil unrest, or severe weather; government-mandated sales, divestitures, recapitalizations and changes in fiscal terms or restrictions on scope of company operations; and general economic and political conditions. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Unless legally required, Chevron undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rules permit oil and gas companies to disclose only proved reserves in their filings with the SEC. Certain terms, such as "resources," "oil in place," "recoverable resources," "oil-equivalent resources," "potentially recoverable volumes" and "recoverable oil," among others, may be used in this press release or other public disclosures that are not permitted to be used in filings with the SEC.

SOURCE: Chevron Corporation

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