Wirth now has three priorities.
First, complete the restructuring and rebuilding of Chevron's corporate culture; second, integrate Hess; and third, extend the concession to develop the giant Tengiz oil field in Kazakhstan, which expires in 2033.
The latter is crucial. When the initial 40-year agreement was signed in 1994, it was dubbed the "deal of the century," as it gave the company access to the oil of the former Soviet Union.
Our concession is valid for another eight years…We have begun working with the government to discuss its extension. I'd like to finish this, not delegate it to someone else," Wirth said in an interview with Bloomberg.