Chevron Stock Gains Pre-Market After Whale Platform Commences Oil Production: Retail Sentiment Soars

Shares of Chevron Corp (CVX) were trading in the green in Friday’s pre-market session after the energy major announced the start of oil production from the Whale semi-submersible platform in the deepwater U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

Whale lies approximately 200 miles southwest of Houston on Alaminos Canyon Block 773 in more than 8,600 feet of water.

Chevron’s U.S. subsidiary owns 40% working interest in Whale, with Shell Offshore Inc. owning 60% interest as operator. According to Shell, most of Whale’s operations can be managed from the shore.

The estimated peak production stands at 100,000 gross barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d), with up to 15 wells in the first phase of development.

Chevron Americas Exploration and Production President Bruce Niemeyer said Whale's production brings Chevron another step closer to reaching 300,000 net boe/d in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico by 2026.

Following the development, retail sentiment on Stocktwits flipped into the ‘bullish’ territory (63/100), accompanied by ‘high’ message volume.

CVX’s Sentiment Meter and Message Volume as of 7:31 a.m. ET on Jan. 10, 2025 | Source: Stocktwits

Last month, Chevron U.S.A., Inc. announced it had upgraded its Pasadena refinery to increase capacity, feedstock, and product flexibility.

The firm completed a retrofit of its refinery in Pasadena, Texas. This is expected to increase product flexibility and expand the processing capacity of lighter crudes by nearly 15% to 125,000 barrels per day. Chevron said the asset's phased start-up is expected to last through the first quarter of 2025.

Meanwhile, the company's shares have gained just over 4% over the past year, underperforming the S&P 500 Energy (Sector), which gained over 7%.

For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com.<