changes to proved reserves by geographic area for the three-year period ending December 31, 2018.

Refer to the “Results of Operations” section on pages 32 through 34 for additional discussion of the company’s upstream business.

Downstream Earnings for the downstream segment are closely tied to margins on the refining, manufacturing and marketing of products that include gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, lubricants, fuel oil, fuel and lubricant additives, and petrochemicals. Industry margins are sometimes volatile and can be affected by the global and regional supply-and-demand balance for refined products and petrochemicals, and by changes in the price of crude oil, other refinery and petrochemical feedstocks, and natural gas. Industry margins can also be influenced by inventory levels, geopolitical events, costs of materials and services, refinery or chemical plant capacity utilization, maintenance programs, and disruptions at refineries or chemical plants resulting from unplanned outages due to severe weather, fires or other operational events.

Other factors affecting profitability for downstream operations include the reliability and efficiency of the company’s refining, marketing and petrochemical assets, the effectiveness of its crude oil and product supply functions, and the volatility of tanker-charter rates for the company’s shipping operations, which are driven by the industry’s demand for crude oil and product tankers. Other factors beyond the company’s control include the general level of inflation and energy costs to operate the company’s refining, marketing and petrochemical assets and changes in tax laws and regulations.

The company’s most significant marketing areas are the West Coast and Gulf Coast of the United States and Asia. Chevron operates or has significant ownership interests in refineries in each of these areas.

Refer to the “Results of Operations” section on pages 32 through 34 for additional discussion of the company’s downstream operations.

All Other consists of worldwide cash management and debt financing activities, corporate administrative functions, insurance operations, real estate activities and technology companies.

Operating Developments

Key operating developments and other events during 2018 and early 2019 included the following:

Upstream

Australia Achieved start-up of Train 2 at the Wheatstone LNG Project.

United States Produced first oil from the Big Foot Project in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico.

Downstream

South Africa and Botswana Completed the sale of refining, marketing and lubricant assets.

United States Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LLC (CPChem), the company’s 50 percent-owned affiliate, commenced operations of a new ethane cracker at its Cedar Bayou facility in Baytown, Texas.

United States In January 2019, Chevron announced it has signed an agreement to acquire a 110,000 barrels per day refinery located in Pasadena, Texas. The transaction is expected to close later in the first-half of 2019, subject to regulatory approvals.

Other

Common Stock Dividends The 2018 annual dividend was $4.48 per share, making 2018 the 31st consecutive year that the company increased its annual per share