Introduction Chevron Corporation is one of the largest firms in the world from the energy sector. It is included in the ranks of the six super major private oil companies that are assumed to control the majority of private oil production across the globe. Chevron participates in a variety of functions in the petroleum industry ranging from exploration and drilling to refining and power generation. This has led to the company being included among the top 25 in Forbes’ list. Chevron Corporation has continued to enjoy massive revenues and profits in recent years, on account of the upward mobility of the oil price and even bucked the downward trend during the current financial crisis. Market Research Market Trends The global oil industry has been very active in influencing the world economy and has a wide impact on the policies and practices of many countries. The industry has seen changing trends since the dawn of the twenty first century. One of the biggest advantages for the industry has been the recent upsurge in oil prices, reaching a high of almost $147 a barrel. This has been a considerably profitable period for many companies considering the inflated revenues and this has been reflected in the stock prices of oil companies across global stock markets. This allowed the petroleum rich countries to get massive cash influx while heavily petroleum importing countries experienced a down turn. Thus the Middle East and a few countries in Europe and Latin America and the state run as well as private run oil companies observed considerably favorable figures during the years. This extravagant period was put to a halt however with the following decline in oil price. Another challenge companies have faced has been natural. With the American and Mexican coasts being hit by hurricanes and insurgents targeting oil pipelines and drilling facilities in Iraq, the companies in the industry saw mounting challenges in terms of security and sustained production. This trend was bucked in part by the accompanying surge in oil price but it still presented a continuous problem. The Global Petroleum Survey conducted by the Fraser Institute in 2008 highlighted some trends in terms of investment in the industry. In particular, there has been the ever present competition between private run and state run oil companies, where the latter controls the majority of the world’s oil reserves. A certain level of hostility towards the private companies has been observed in Venezuela, Russia, Iran and Yemen where political instability, constant changes in regulations and legal framework and some cases of dishonoring contracts have discouraged private investment in the oil industry and further expansion. The petroleum industry is one sector which has seen a continuous rise in demand over the years. The global demand for crude oil rose 1.76% from 1994 to 2006 and is speculated to go up nearly 37% up till the year 2030, largely spurred by the transportation sector. Developed countries have shown sustained high demand which is now being augmented by increased demand from India and China. The production of oil has been relatively steady, being constrained by the number of fields in operation and being drilled from. Gl