Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) has increased its annual rate of share buybacks to a rate of $17.5 billion annually beginning in the second quarter, up from a previously planned $15 billion.
The top end of its buyback target range rose to $20 billion a year, which gives the oil and gas giant scope to raise buybacks even further in the future.
The move comes even as crude prices have declined more than 30% since June. CEO Mike Wirth has made a point to return cash to shareholders after promising to do so last year when oil prices rose to more than $100 a barrel, according to reports.
Chevron has pledged production growth of 3% annually, with an additional nearly 900,000 barrels a day coming from the Permian Basin, Kazakhstan, Gulf of Mexico and elsewhere by 2027. This growth will have to come despite a flat capital budget, with annual free cash flow increasing more than 10% at $60-a-barrel Brent prices, the company said.
Shares of Chevron were down 0.3% to $162.26 Tuesday morning.
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