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Chevron Director Emerges as Surprise Skeptic of Oil's Future

Chevron Director Questions Future of Oil Industry in Tweet

(Bloomberg) -- Chevron Corp.’s youngest director questioned the future of an industry the world’s third-largest oil explorer helps lead.

Dambisa Moyo, an economist and author who joined Chevron’s board in October 2016, on Wednesday tweeted, “If #oil energy consumption is declining and #renewableenergy consumption is on the #rise, what does that mean for the future of the oil industry?”

Her tweet concluded with, “#energy #fall #environment #getsmarter #happywarrior,” along with two charts credited to CNBC. Worldwide oil demand is actually on the increase, expanding by more than 1 million barrels a day since the beginning of the decade, according to the International Energy Agency in Paris.

Moyo is in her late 40s on a board whose next-youngest member is 57-year-old CEO Mike Wirth, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The tweet, which was dated Feb. 28, has since disappeared from Moyo’s feed.

“This simply demonstrates that Chevron’s board takes into account multiple points of view on the important topic of the future of energy,” said Kent Robertson, a spokesman for San Ramon, California-based Chevron.

In a U.S. filing last week, the company said its forecasts already “reflect long-range effects from renewable fuel penetration, energy efficiency standards, climate-related policy actions, and demand response to oil and natural gas prices.” Chevron is the No. 3 oil producer by market value, behind Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc.

To contact the reporters on this story: Joe Carroll in Houston at jcarroll8@bloomberg.net, Javier Blas in Houston at jblas3@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Reg Gale at rgale5@bloomberg.net, Joe Carroll, Christine Buurma

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