primarily due to a lower effective tax rate in international upstream operations. The lower international upstream effective tax rate was driven by a greater portion of equity income in 2013 than in 2012 (equity income is included as part of before-tax income and is generally recorded net of income taxes) and foreign currency remeasurement impacts.

The rate was unchanged between 2012 and 2011. The impact of lower effective tax rates in international upstream operations was offset by foreign currency remeasurement impacts between periods. For international upstream, the lower effective tax rates in the 2012 period were driven primarily by the effects of asset sales, one-time tax benefits and reduced withholding taxes, which were partially offset by a lower utilization of tax credits during the year.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Cash, Cash Equivalents, Time Deposits and Marketable Securities Total balances were $16.5 billion and $21.9 billion at December 31, 2013 and 2012, respectively. Cash provided by operating activities in 2013 was $35.0 billion, compared with $38.8 billion in 2012 and $41.1 billion in 2011. Cash provided by operating activities was net of contributions to employee pension plans of approximately $1.2 billion, $1.2 billion and $1.5 billion in 2013, 2012 and 2011, respectively. Cash provided by investing activities included proceeds and deposits related to asset sales of $1.1 billion in 2013, $2.8 billion in 2012, and $3.5 billion in 2011.

Restricted cash of $1.2 billion and $1.5 billion at December 31, 2013 and 2012, respectively, was held in cash and short-term marketable securities and recorded as “Deferred charges and other assets” on the Consolidated Balance Sheet. These amounts are generally associated with tax payments, upstream abandonment activities, funds held in escrow for asset acquisitions and capital investment projects.

Dividends Dividends paid to common stockholders were $7.5 billion in 2013, $6.8 billion in 2012 and $6.1 billion in 2011. In April 2013, the company increased its quarterly dividend by 11.1 percent to $1.00 per common share.

Debt and Capital Lease Obligations Total debt and capital lease obligations were $20.4 billion at December 31, 2013, up from $12.2 billion at year-end 2012.

The $8.2 billion increase in total debt and capital lease obligations during 2013 included a $6 billion bond issuance in June 2013, timed in part to take advantage of historically low interest rates. The company’s debt and capital lease obligations due within one year, consisting primarily of commercial paper, redeemable long-term obligations and the current portion of long-term debt, totaled $8.4 billion at December 31, 2013, compared with $6.0 billion at year-end 2012. Of these amounts, $8.0 billion and $5.9 billion were reclassified to long-term at the end of each period, respectively. At year-end 2013, settlement of these obligations was not expected to require the use of working capital in 2014, as the company had the intent and the ability, as evidenced by committed credit facilities, to refinance them on a long-term basis.

Chevron has an automatic shelf registration statement that expires in November