{"text":[[{"start":8,"text":"Chevron has signed a 20-year agreement to sell electricity to Microsoft for a data centre in West Texas, cementing the US oil major’s move into power to meet significant demand from the AI build-out."}],[{"start":20.8,"text":"The oil and gas producer is working with Engine No. 1, a US investment firm, to develop Project Kilby, which will deliver 2.7 gigawatts of capacity in the Permian Basin."}],[{"start":31.9,"text":"Chevron is expected to make the final decision on building a gas-fired power plant for the project later this year. It did not disclose the cost of Project Kilby, which ranks among the largest data centres in the US."}],[{"start":44.65,"text":"“This is a competitive differentiator for us,” Chevron’s president of new energies Jeff Gustavson said in an interview with the FT. He said that of all the announced data centre projects in the US, “almost none have reached the milestone we reached today, broadly and specifically within our peer set.”"}],[{"start":61.75,"text":"Chevron is in a race with rival ExxonMobil to expand into off-grid power plants, taking advantage of prolific natural gas production in the Permian, the country’s energy heartland. NextEra Energy, a Florida-based utility company, said last year it was partnering with ExxonMobil to develop natural gas-fired power plants to serve its customers, which include Google."}],[{"start":83.9,"text":"Chevron is positioning itself to benefit from the US infrastructure build-out of AI, as technology groups including Microsoft, Amazon and Google owner Alphabet spend billions of dollars to boost data centre capacity."}],[{"start":98.60000000000001,"text":"While companies have been reaping the benefits of higher crude prices as a result of the Iran war, the increase in oil production in the Permian has strained gas pipeline takeaway capacity in the region. Natural gas is a byproduct of oil production. "}],[{"start":112.9,"text":"There is so much natural gas coming out of the US shale patch that oil and gas producers are paying to have it taken away at cost. In recent months, Waha Hub, an indicator for Permian gas prices, has been negative, in a sign of the gas pipeline shortage. "}],[{"start":127.65,"text":"“This is one of the hallmarks of this project, bringing demand to the basin to avoid that scenario from occurring,” said Gustavson."}],[{"start":134.8,"text":"“I think we’re just getting started on what can be developed there, I can see this leading to other power developments over time.” "}],[{"start":142.05,"text":"Gustavson, whose portfolio includes low-carbon projects, said Project Kilby would not initially incorporate renewable power, but that Chevron might incorporate solar power in the project in the future."}],[{"start":154.20000000000002,"text":"“There will be other developments in this area and around the country and I think one thing we will continue to look at is can we drop some of these low-carbon technologies into these developments,” he said."}],[{"start":172.95000000000002,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1782180643_8843.mp3"}