By Ang Bee Lin
The company will spend a fifth of the $23 billion allocated for global expansion in Asia this year, Kurt Glaubitz, the head of media relations for exploration and development, said in Hong Kong today. “We have a $5 billion credit facility that we expect will be fully available to us and our cash position is strong,” said Glaubitz, who is based at the company’s headquarters in San Ramon, California.
The worst financial crisis since the Great Depression is freezing lending, causing delays in projects such as London’s Olympic Village and pushing the world economy toward recession. Benchmark crude oil prices in New York have fallen more than 50 percent from a record in July on concerns the global stock market plunge will damp economic growth and curb demand.
“We are watching the crisis closely,” said Glaubitz. “Fundamentally, the long-term Asian energy demand growth prospects are still strong.”
Chevron said last week its third-quarter earnings will exceed the $5.98 billion reported in the previous three months even though output will fall for an eighth straight quarter. The company has $8 billion of cash as at the end of the second quarter, Glaubitz said today.
The shares slumped 12.5 percent yesterday to $59.98 in U.S. trading. The stock has fallen almost 36 percent in the past year, compared with a 38 percent decline in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
Australian Ventures
In Asia, Chevron has oil exploration ventures in countries including Thailand, Indonesia and China. It operates refineries in Singapore, Australia and Thailand.
The company pumped the equivalent of 2.46 million barrels of crude oil a day in July and August, compared with 2.59 million barrels during the third quarter of last year, the company said Oct. 9.
Analysts have said Chevron is among liquefied natural gas producers in the Australian region that may delay committing to new projects because of lower oil prices and difficulty in raising finances.
Chevron’s proposed Gorgon LNG project has already been delayed several years. It was first put on hold in 1998 when the Asian economic crisis hit. More recently, the venture, which includes Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Exxon Mobil Corp., scrapped a timeline for approving and building the plant as they seek to tackle a surge in construction costs.
Chevron’s ventures in Australia are making “good progress,” spokeswomanNicole Hodgson said in an e-mailed response to questions earlier this week. Chevron remains committed to Gorgon and the venture has “recently secured an additional A$1 billion ($670 million) in vital funding,” she said.
“The Chevron-operated Gorgon and Wheatstone projects continue to make good progress, with both projects ramping up staff and contractor positions as we speak,” she said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Bee Lin Ang in Hong Kong at[email protected]
Last Updated: October 16, 2008 20:49 EDT
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Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
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A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
