Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) reported earnings of $2.0 billion, or $1.09 per share, for the 
third quarter of 2015, compared with $5.6 billion, or $2.95 per share, in the 2014 third quarter.
Sales and other operating revenues in Q3 2015 were $33 billion, compared to $52 billion in the year-ago period.
Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) announced the successful appraisal of its Anchor discovery in the Lower Tertiary Wilcox Trend in the Gulf of Mexico.
“The positive results of our appraisal work at Anchor indicate a significant discovery of potentially hub class scale,” said Jay Johnson, executive vice president Upstream, of San Ramon-based Chevron.
Forecasts for strong El Niño conditions this winter, triggered by unusually warm seas, are causing 
Californians to brace for drenching rainstorms, mudslides and other havoc. A less anticipated El Niño effect may be a sharp increase in the demand for natural gas.
The cloudy and rainy weather expected this winter in much of the state will reduce the output of solar panels used by homeowners, businesses and utilities to generate electricity. That will require a significant increase in the use of natural gas in power plants to make up the difference.
California Resources Corp., formed as a spinoff from Occidental Petroleum, is in talks to sell 
some of its oil and gas fields, pipelines and other holdings to pay down a portion of its $6.2 billion in debt.
CRC’s Chief Executive Officer Todd Stevens disclosed the plans in a presentation to analysts, saying the company is negotiating agreements with several potential purchasers of the assets.
A proposal by Phillips 66 to add a 1.5 mile rail spur to its Santa Maria refinery, to accommodate 
80-car tanker trains carrying crude oil, has run into resistance from nearby cities, school districts and environmental groups.
Because rail operations are subject to federal regulation, local governments have no direct control over the project proposed by the refinery. However, Phillips will need approval from San Luis Obispo County for the related construction on its 1,100 acre property. The county is expected to take up the issue early in 2016.
A federal judge in Wyoming has issued a preliminary injunction preventing the Department of the Interior from enforcing rules on the use of hydraulic fracturing on federal lands, saying the Bureau of Land Management lacks authority to oversee drilling activity and that such regulation should be left to the states.
United States District Court Scott Skavdahl said in his ruling that a federal agency must derive its power from Congress, but “at this point, the Court does not believe Congress has granted or delegated to the BLM authority to regulate fracking.”
