The second-largest US oil company Chevron seemed to have one foot out the door of its national headquarters in San Ramon, but now they’re making it official and moving to Texas, though their smoke-spewing Richmond refinery is apparently staying put.

It’s not a huge shock, as the San Francisco Business Times reported Friday morning, that San Ramon-based oil giant Chevron is moving its headquarters from the East Bay to Houston. After all, there are only about 2,000 employees at the San Ramon office, while the company’s Houston office has an estimated 7,000 employees. So the Houston office was already much larger anyway, and Chevron sold the land on which the San Ramon  headquarters sits in 2022.

In a company statement picked up by the Chronicle, Chevron said it “expects all corporate functions to migrate to Houston over the next five years,” but added that there will be “minimal immediate relocation impacts.” The key term there is probably “immediate,” because the statement indicates that the only workers ultimately staying in San Ramon would be those whose jobs are related to California operations. So the San Ramon office will likely be pared down to a skeleton crew over time.

The statement also said that they weren't moving any refinery jobs. So that means Chevron’s often-flaring Richmond refinery isn’t going anywhere, and will likely continue to produce foul smells and environmental problems for years to come.

Chevron is the second-largest oil company in the US, and is worth an estimated $285 billion.

But they may not feel California is a hospitable home, because California is suing Chevron, as well as the four other major “Big Oil” companies, for their role in climate change (and for lying about it), as the Chronicle points out. And Governor Gavin Newsom’s office’s statement on the matter did not come right out and say “good riddance,” but that sentiment seems to be there.

Newsom’s spokesperson Alex Stack said in a statement to the Chronicle that Chevron’s Houston relocation “is the logical culmination of a long process that has repeatedly been foreshadowed by Chevron. We’re proud of California’s place as the leading creator of clean energy jobs — a critical part of our diverse, innovative, and vibrant economy.”

Chevron was originally founded as the Pacific Coast Oil Company in San Francisco in 1879, and was gobbled up by John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company in 1900. It was renamed Chevron in 1984 upon its merger with Gulf Oil, and its headquarters was always in San Francisco, until that headquarters relocated to the more affordable office space of San Ramon’s Bishop Ranch office park in 2001.  

Related: Chevron Selling Off Headquarters In San Ramon, But Richmond Refinery Staying Put [SFist]

Image: InvadingInvader via Wikimedia Commons