John S. Watson
Executive Vice President, Strategy and Development
John S. Watson is executive vice president of Chevron Corporation. He is responsible for business development, mergers and acquisitions, strategic planning and the Project Resources Company, which supports the development of major capital projects within Chevron.
Watson assumed his current position January 1, 2008. Previously, he was president of Chevron International Exploration and Production, responsible for managing Chevron's exploration and production activities outside North America, a position he held since January 2005.
A native of California, Watson earned a bachelor's degree in agricultural economics from the University of California at Davis in 1978 and a master's degree in business administration from the University of Chicago in 1980.
Watson joined Chevron Corp. in 1980 as a financial analyst, going on to hold various financial and analytical positions in the corporation and Chevron U.S.A. Inc. He held supervisory positions in the comptroller's financial and profit analysis groups. He was named manager of investor relations for the corporation in 1990.
In 1993, he became manager of credit card enterprises for Chevron U.S.A. (CUSA) Products Co., overseeing the company's credit card operations. In 1995, he was named general manager, strategic planning and quality for CUSA, where he was responsible for developing business plans and strategies, conducting business evaluations and reviewing investment proposals for the company.
Watson was appointed president of Chevron Canada Ltd. (CCL) in January 1996. Headquartered in Vancouver, B.C., CCL is an integrated manufacturing and marketing petroleum company and a wholly owned subsidiary of Chevron Corp.
In February 1998, he was elected a vice president of Chevron Corp., responsible for strategic planning, which included mergers and acquisitions. Subsequently, he was vice president, finance, and chief financial officer of ChevronTexaco Corporation and served as the ChevronTexaco merger integration executive.
Watson is also a past director of Caltex Petroleum Corp. Caltex was a 50-50 joint venture of Chevron and Texaco, with refining and marketing activities throughout the Eastern Hemisphere. With the merger of Chevron and Texaco, Caltex became part of ChevronTexaco Corp.
Watson was born in 1956.
Updated: February 2008