Middle East crisis to have longer-term impact: Chevron CEO in Oil & Companies News 05/05/2026 The ongoing Middle East crisis will likely change the global energy system in the longer term, given the significant disruption it continues to cause in the commodities market, Chevron CEO Mike Wirth said May 1. “It’s early to have firm conclusions about how the energy system will change in the long term,” Wirth said on the company’s first-quarter earnings webcast. “I do think there will be changes. We have to see how things play out over the coming weeks, hopefully, not longer than that. As this comes to some sort of a resolution, and the energy system begins to be reconstituted in a way that can reach some new equilibrium.” “I think that the new equilibrium will look different than what we’ve known before. But I’m not sure I could argue with a lot of confidence that I could describe exactly what that looks like,” he said. Chevron, along with ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips., is among the leading US companies with existing assets in the Middle East that have been impacted both directly and indirectly by the current crisis. A common line among the trio of US producers is that, while there is no early solution visible on the horizon, the companies will maintain a policy of focusing on other short-cycle, high-return assets elsewhere globally while awaiting clarity on energy prices. For ConocoPhillips, focus will be on its South Texas’ Permian Basin and Alaska assets as it awaits a price equilibrium, CEO Ryan Lance said on the company’s earnings webcast April 30, while in 2026, ExxonMobil will remain focused on growing output in 2026 from its advantaged assets in the Permian Basin and offshore Guyana, as the industry navigates the current market disruption, CEO Darren Woods said May 1 on its earnings webcast. Invest in competitive assets “One thing you can expect from us [Chevron] is consistency. You will see capital and cost discipline no matter what. You will see us invest