Chevron Corp. shareholders on Wednesday overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to compel the oil major to issue an environmental protection report on its worldwide operations.

The proposal garnered only 7% support from company shareholders, and other proposals by shareholders were rejected as well, mirroring the results from ExxonMobil Corp.’s annual meeting, which also was held Wednesday (see related story). The results were tallied as part of Chevron’s annual shareholder meeting, which was held in San Ramon, CA.

CEO Dave O’Reilly told the audience that the company’s record performance last year enabled the company to reward its investors, fund a “robust” capital program and be in a position to capitalize when energy demand recovers.

“Chevron’s been in business for 130 years through 13 major recessions,” said O’Reilly. “It’s no accident we’re still in business today. We look past the downturns to keep our focus on long-term growth. Eventually, world economies will grow. Experts say that by 2030 energy demand will increase as much as 30-40%. When the world starts growing, it will need all the energy it can get. Chevron will be there to supply it.”

John Watson, vice chairman of the board, told investors that Lloyds Register, an independent auditor, confirmed that Chevron’s environmental management systems meet all international standards. Chevron has met its greenhouse gas emission goals every year since 2004, and is ranked No. 1 among U.S.-based oil and gas companies and No. 2 worldwide in the 2008 Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index. The index lists companies taking best-in-class actions to measure and report carbon emissions.

Chevron’s $22.8 billion capital and exploratory expenditure program for 2009 is expected to fund large, multi-year projects with about 75% earmarked for worldwide crude oil and natural gas exploration and production projects.

Last year Chevron added more than 1.7 billion boe to its reserves, said George Kirkland, executive vice president, Global Upstream and Gas. Nine major capital projects started up in 2008, which are expected to contribute 350,000 boe/d this year. Chevron, he said, has a “full queue of 40 major capital projects,” with each representing an investment of more than $1 billion.

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