When the Wall Street Journal last week reported that Chevron’s chief executive John Watson would step down, the most likely replacement as a “new leadership for a changing oil world” was thought to be vice chairman Michael Wirth. Wirth’s background in refining and his experience in cost efficiency improvement, according to unnamed sources from the company, had tipped the scales. According to a Goldman Sachs note to investors, Chevron’s move is the latest sign that the oil and gas industry is making cost discipline and improved returns a top priority. Following the WSJ’s report on the Chevron regime change, MarketWatch published an analysis in which author Claudia Assis noted that several other Big Oil companies are also headed by downstream exports rather than upstream vets like Rex Tillerson, for example. Tillerson himself was replaced by a downstream vet, Darren Woods, when he became Secretary of State. A look at […]