Willie Chiang

Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President, Plains All American Pipeline, L.P.

Search every verified Willie Chiang interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Willie Chiang, chairman, CEO, and president of Plains All American Pipeline, participated in a fireside chat hosted by ELCO Management and Siegel Asset Management Partners on February 26, 2026. During the discussion, he addressed the company's transition to a pure-play crude oil infrastructure business following its NGL divestiture, its 2026 strategic priorities, and its capital allocation framework. Chiang described the company's shift from a defensive posture of selling roughly $6 billion in assets and paying down debt to an offensive approach of acquiring bolt-on assets, while noting that further acquisitions have become more challenging and that the company is focused on self-help and avoiding overpaying for assets. He also expressed a view that crude oil prices are likely to firm up within six months to a year and a half as supply and demand tighten, calling it a potential "game changer" once visible. In an earlier appearance at the Texas Oil & Gas Association's virtual energy summit on July 21, 2020, Chiang discussed the state of the midstream sector and U.S. crude production growth. He said the midstream segment had done a good job of staying ahead of the production curve, with adequate pipeline infrastructure to evacuate basins and reach key markets, noting that U.S. crude production had grown from about 5 million barrels per day in the late 2005–2010 period to roughly 13 million barrels per day. He also characterized the oil market downturn at that time as a demand problem rather than a supply problem, citing a drop of about 25 million barrels per day, or 25 percent, in liquids demand in the second quarter of 2020, and noted concerns that Cushing, a key U.S. crude storage hub, could fill.