2007, a wide differential in prices existed in 2008 between high-quality (i.e., high-gravity, low-sulfur) crude oils and those of lower quality (i.e., low-gravity, high-sulfur crude). The relatively lower price for the high-sulfur crudes has been associated with an ample supply and relatively lower demand due to the limited number of refineries that are able to process this lower-quality feedstock into light products (i.e., motor gasoline, jet fuel, aviation gasoline and diesel fuel). Chevron produces or shares in the production of heavy crude oil in California, Chad, Indonesia, the Partitioned Neutral Zone between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, Venezuela and certain fields in Angola, China and the United Kingdom North Sea. (Refer to page FS-10 for the company’s average U.S. and international crude oil realizations.)

     In contrast to price movements in the global market for crude oil, price changes for natural gas in many regional markets are more closely aligned with supply-and-demand conditions in those markets. In the United States during 2008, benchmark prices at Henry Hub averaged about $9 per thousand cubic feet (MCF), compared with about $7 in 2007. At December 31, 2008, and as of mid-February 2009, the Henry Hub price was about $5.60 and $4.70 per MCF, respectively. Fluctuations in the price for natural gas in the United States are closely associated with the volumes produced in North America and the inventory in underground storage relative to customer demand. U.S. natural gas prices are also typically higher during the winter period when demand for heating is greatest.

     Certain other regions of the world in which the company operates have different supply, demand and regulatory circumstances, typically resulting in lower average sales prices for the company’s production of natural gas. (Refer to page FS-10 for the company’s average natural gas realizations for the U.S. and international regions.) Additionally, excess-supply conditions that exist in certain parts of the world cannot easily serve to mitigate the relatively higher-price conditions in the United States and other markets because of the lack of infrastructure to transport and receive liquefied natural gas.

     To help address this regional imbalance between supply and demand for natural gas, Chevron continues to invest in long-term projects in areas of excess supply to install infrastructure to produce and liquefy natural gas for transport by tanker, along with investments and commitments to regasify the product in markets where demand is strong and supplies are not as plentiful. Due to the significance of the overall investment in these long-term projects, the natural gas sales prices in the areas of excess supply (before the natural gas is transferred to a processing facility) are expected to remain below sales prices for natural gas that is produced much nearer to areas of high demand and can be transported in existing natural gas pipeline networks (as in the United States or Thailand).

     Besides the impact of the fluctuation in price for crude oil and natural gas, the longer-term trend in earnings for the upstream segment is also a function of other factors,