Oil pumpjacks line the horizon along the Kern River in Chevron's Kern River Oil Field, the fifth largest field in the United States, located just north and east of Bakersfield.
"One of the things we talk about often is affordable, reliable, ever cleaner energy. You have to do all of these three things, and you have to do them together," he said. "Absolutely we want to try and reduce C02, help the climate, but if I think about the consumer and reliability, fundamentally the consumer wants to turn the light switch and the light go on, or drive up to a filling station and fill up with gasoline, or fill up with electric charge."
So historically, we have been really good at that as an energy industry, but as we go through this transition, we need to make sure we focus all three things together, that as we’re building ever cleaner energy, they’re fundamentally reliable for the consumer. The transition to renewable energy, Parfitt said, would not happen quickly, and would not completely replace the existing oil and gas industry.
"If you look at the current energy system, it’s so vast, and to transition is going to take years and decades."