FILE PHOTO: A Chevron logo outside the Chevron building in Houston, Texas, U.S. August 19, 2025. REUTERS/Kaylee Greenlee/File Photo

By Sheila Dang

HOUSTON, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Chevron said on Wednesday that capital expenditure for 2026 will be between $18 billion and $19 billion as the oil major focuses on production in the U.S. and investments connected to a recently-acquired oil stake in Guyana.

The range is at the low-end of previous guidance that put annual investment between $18 billion and $21 billion through 2030. The second-largest U.S. oil producer outlined a plan last month to cut costs, operate more efficiently and increase returns to investors through the end of the decade.

"Our 2026 capital program focuses on the highest-return opportunities while maintaining discipline and improving efficiency, enabling us to grow cash flow and earnings," Chevron CEO Mike Wirth said in a statement.

About $17 billion will be spent on upstream, roughly $9 billion of which is allocated to the United States. Chevron said it expects to spend $6 billion on American shale and plans to produce more than 2 million barrels of oil equivalent per day from the country next year.

Spending on offshore production will total about $7 billion to support Guyana, projects in the Eastern Mediterranean and production from the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

Downstream spending will be about $1 billion, slightly lower compared with this year.

Chevron closed its $55 billion acquisition of Hess in July, with the main asset being a 30% stake in the prolific Stabroek Block in Guyana. The deal also came with new assets in the Bakken shale formation in the U.S.

(Reporting by Sheila Dang in Houston; Editing by Nathan Crooks and Diane Craft)