JPM E&P Shale Well Watcher: CVX Licenses Proprietary Shale Surfactant Technology to Peer Producers via Third-Party: Launching Vantis

Research evidence excerpt

JPM E&P Shale Well Watcher: CVX Licenses Proprietary Shale Surfactant Technology to Peer Producers via Third-Party: Launching Vantis

J P M O R G A N North America Equity Research

13 July 2026

JPM E&P Shale Well Watcher

CVX Licenses Proprietary Shale Surfactant Technology

to Peer Producers via Third-Party: Launching Vantis

JPM View: In this week's Well Watcher, we review CVX’s decision to license its Oil & Gas Exploration & Production

ACproprietary shale surfactant chemistry to producers through ZL Chemicals under the Arun Jayaram

Vantis™ brand. Thus far, CVX has tested its proprietary surfactants program in more (1-212) 622-8541

than 600 wells across the Lower 48 and Argentina, joining producers such as FANG, arun.jayaram@jpmchase.com

OVV, and XOM that have also tested surfactants in the Permian Basin. At the Pankaj Bhatter, CFA

company’s November Investor Day, CVX noted that its surfactant program in the (1-212) 622-3795

Permian Basin was driving a ~10% increase in Permian EURs as well as a 5-8% pankaj.bhatter@jpmchase.com

reduction in their base decline rate. We believe this was one of the factors that Jack Jerusalmi

supported a ~10% increase in CVX’s Permian Basin output last year and production (1-212) 622-6552

jack.jerusalmi@jpmorgan.com

above their 1 MMBoe/d plateau rate. We believe there could be strong demand for this J.P. Morgan Securities LLC

offering as producers grapple with deploying technologies that can boost well

productivity and recovery rates, which stand at less than ~10% industry wide. While

CVX will treat the exact surfactant chemistry as competitive IP, it will open up a new

commercial channel to monetize its technology, though the economic terms of the ZL

Chemicals arrangement have not been disclosed. Looking ahead, we will be watching