Chevron Chairman and CEO Mike Wirth discussed Joe Biden's claims regarding the oil industry.
Despite the U.S. President's prioritizing further development of green energy, progressive states, including California, plan to impose windfall taxes on oil producers' excess profits. This is how Mike Wirth described these policies' impact on domestic investment in the country's energy sector.
These tax proposals could lead neither to increased supply on the market nor to lower prices. But there is a risk of the opposite. Chevron's CEO believes that there have already been historical precedents for taxation, for instance, in the 1970s and 1980s. But these measures have failed, so the government has no confidence that they will work today. Wirth also noted that taxes should not be raised, thereby discouraging people from investing, in order to increase gasoline supplies. A new solution should come into play for boosting supplies and ensuring price stability. This would have a positive impact on economic growth.