The sharp upturn in energy demand, which has escalated since Russia invaded Ukraine, has created a big opening for Chevron Corp. to ramp up once again in the massive Permian Basin and ponder whether it’s time to invest in U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG), CEO Mike Wirth said Friday.

In sharing the 1Q2022 results, Wirth explained to analysts that the pandemic-created slowdown in demand is long gone. The San Ramon, CA-based supermajor had pulled back on activity in the basin as Covid-19 crushed consumption and prices, he noted. During the first quarter, though, the pandemic was a bad memory. Permian unconventional output increased to a record 692,000 boe/d from year-ago volumes of 597,000 boe/d.

“What happened,” said Wirth, is “we ended up with an inventory of drilled but...