Stephanie Link, Chief Investment Officer at Hightower, revealed during CNBC’s Halftime Report that she has added to her firm’s Chevron holdings, boosting her energy exposure by roughly 12% over the past two weeks. Link cited Chevron’s ability to generate free cash flow in excess of $12 billion annually and its commitment to return capital via dividends and share repurchases, which currently yield around 4.5%. She highlighted the company’s long-term offshore project pipeline—expected to add 150,000 barrels per day of production by 2027—and noted that her team’s internal models project total shareholder return of 15% over the next 18 months based on conservative oil price assumptions.

Chevron has ramped up Venezuelan crude shipments with the goal of easing storage constraints and generating up to $700 million in incremental annual cash flow. According to internal sources, the company aims to increase exports by 80,000 barrels per day by the end of Q2 through partnerships with state‐owned oil firms and chartered tankers. Management expects this additional throughput to reduce bottlenecks at onshore terminals, improve refining margins in third‐party facilities, and contribute toward a target of $4 billion in upstream free cash flow for the full year. Executives also point to recent policy shifts in Caracas that have reopened negotiations on joint ventures previously stalled by sanctions.