Dive Brief:

• Chevron’s U.S. division has agreed to acquire diversified energy solutions company Beyond6 and its 55 compressed natural gas (CNG) stations across 16 U.S. states, according to a recent announcement. 
• The deal — made for an undisclosed amount — gives Chevron full ownership of Beyond6, which the retailer has co-owned since September 2021 through a joint venture with energy and commodity group Mercuria Energy Trading.
• Chevron’s latest move comes less than a month after its CEO said the company was looking to expand its renewable fuel capabilities, an area in which it has made plenty of noise so far this year.

Dive Insight:

Chevron and Mercuria initially acquired Beyond6 to develop a U.S. CNG fueling network supplied with renewable natural gas (RNG). Around the time of the initial purchase, Chevron said the joint venture would complement its plan to have more than 30 Chevron-branded CNG stations by 2025.

With this latest move, Chevron — which already had 75 CNG sites as of late October — will now have 130 CNG stations in its network. 

The deal allows Chevron to market the RNG it either creates or procures across the country, according to the announcement. Additionally, Chevron and Mercuria will enter into a long-term supply agreement to deliver RNG to Chevron as part of the buyout.

Chevron has seen “strong demand” for both RNG and CNG fuel offerings from its customers, Andy Walz, Chevron's president of Americas products, said in the announcement. 

"Because of its carbon negative attribute and the ability of fleet operators to efficiently adapt vehicles to run on CNG, renewable natural gas can be a lower carbon solution for fleets seeking to reduce their lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions,” he said.

Renewable fuel is quickly becoming one of Chevron’s top priorities, as the retailer has made multiple moves in the RNG space this year alone. In February, it acquired biodiesel production company Renewable Energy Group for more than $3 billion, moving the company towards its goal to increase renewable fuels production capacity to 100,000 barrels per day by 2030, it said at the time. Seven months later, Chevron announced a joint investment with bioenergy company CalBio to produce and market dairy biomethane as a RNG fuel in California.