NEW YORK, January 1, 2026, 15:15 ET — Market closed
- Chevron ended the last trading session up 0.1% at $152.41.
- Brent and U.S. crude settled lower on Wednesday and finished 2025 down about 19%–20%.
- Traders are watching an OPEC+ meeting on Jan. 4 and Chevron’s next results expected around Jan. 30.
Chevron shares closed slightly higher on Wednesday, the final trading day of 2025, ending up 0.1% at $152.41. U.S. markets were closed on Thursday for the New Year’s Day holiday.
The muted move capped a year-end stretch in which oil prices fell and posted their steepest annual drop since 2020, refocusing investors on how a softer crude tape could shape energy earnings early in 2026.
That matters for Chevron and other integrated oil majors because benchmark prices feed directly into upstream revenue and cash generation, while cost inflation and refining swings can amplify the impact on quarterly results.
Brent crude futures settled at $60.85 a barrel on Wednesday, down 48 cents, or 0.8%, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) settled at $57.42, down 53 cents, or 0.9%, Reuters reported.
“It will probably be a rough January and February,” said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital Markets, after U.S. crude stocks fell while gasoline and distillate inventories rose more than expected. Reuters
BNP Paribas commodities analyst Jason Ying expects Brent to dip to about $55 a barrel in the first quarter before recovering to around $60 for the rest of 2026, citing U.S. shale producers’ ability to hedge production at higher prices.
Chevron also had fresh operational news in the background. The company has begun production at the South N’dola field in Angola’s offshore Block 0, with output tied back to its Mafumeira facility for processing, Rigzone reported, citing Chevron.
In U.S. equities, energy was among the weaker pockets on Wednesday as Wall Street ended the year lower in thin, holiday-shortened trading, according to Reuters. Exxon Mobil, a close peer, fell 0.5% to $120.34.
Geopolitics remained a wildcard for crude. The U.S. Treasury on Wednesday imposed sanctions on four companies it said were operating in Venezuela’s oil sector and associated tankers, and warned of “significant sanctions risks” for those involved in the trade. Reuters
The Treasury also described a “shadow fleet” of older vessels with opaque ownership that transport sanctioned oil, often without top-tier insurance cover used by major shippers and ports. Reuters
Before the next session on Friday, investors are likely to stay anchored to the oil market after Brent and WTI ended 2025 down nearly one-fifth, with traders focused on whether the supply balance loosens further in early 2026.
OPEC+, the group of OPEC producers and allies such as Russia, meets on Jan. 4 after pausing output hikes for the first quarter of 2026, Reuters reported — a headline risk for energy shares if policy signals push crude sharply in either direction.
Chevron is expected to report results around Jan. 30, according to MarketWatch and Zacks. On charts, the stock sits about 10% below its 52-week high of $168.96 and about 15% above its 52-week low of $132.04, while Wednesday’s session ranged from roughly $151.68 to $152.54.
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