2005 also reflected these nonrecurring charges in 2006. Refer also to the discussion of income taxes in Note 15 beginning on page FS-43.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities  Total balances were $8.1 billion and $11.4 billion at December 31, 2007 and 2006, respectively. Cash provided by operating activities in 2007 was $25.0 billion, compared with $24.3 billion in 2006 and $20.1 billion in 2005.

     Cash provided by operating activities was net of contributions to employee pension plans of $300 million, $400 million and $1.0 billion in 2007, 2006 and 2005, respectively. Cash provided by investing activities included proceeds from asset sales of $3.3 billion in 2007, $1.0 billion in 2006 and $2.7 billion in 2005.

     Cash provided by operating activities and asset sales during 2007 was sufficient to fund the company’s $17.7 billion capital and exploratory program, pay $4.8 billion of dividends to stockholders and repay approximately $3.7 billion of debt.

     Restricted cash of $799 million associated with capital-investment projects at the company’s Pascagoula, Mississippi, refinery and Angola liquefied natural gas project was invested in short-term marketable securities and reclassified from cash equivalents to a long-term asset on the Consolidated Balance Sheet.

     Dividends  The company paid dividends of approximately $4.8 billion in 2007, $4.4 billion in 2006 and $3.8 billion in 2005. In April 2007, the company increased its quarterly common stock dividend by 11.5 percent to 58 cents per share.

     Debt, capital lease and minority interest obligations  Total debt and capital lease balances were $7.2 billion at December 31, 2007, down from $9.8 billion at year-end 2006. The company also had minority interest obligations of $204 million, down from $209 million at December 31, 2006.

     The $2.6 billion reduction in total debt and capital lease obligations during 2007 included the early redemption and maturity of individual debt issues. In February, $144 million of Texaco Capital Inc. bonds matured. In the second and fourth quarters, the company redeemed approximately $809 million and $65 million, respectively of Texaco Capital Inc. debt and recognized an after-tax loss of approximately $175 million. In August, $2 billion of Chevron Canada Funding Company bonds matured. In December, the company issued a $650 million tax exempt Mississippi Gulf Opportunity Zone bond to fund an upgrade project at the company’s refinery in Pascagoula, Mississippi. Commercial paper balances at the end of 2007 declined approximately $450 million from $3.5 billion at year-end 2006. In February 2008, $750 million of Chevron Canada Funding Company bonds matured.

     The company’s debt and capital lease obligations due within one year, consisting primarily of commercial paper and the current portion of long-term debt, totaled $5.5 billion at December 31, 2007, down from $6.6 billion at year-end 2006. Of these amounts, $4.4 billion and $4.5 billion were reclassified to long-term at the end of each period, respectively. At year-end 2007, settlement of these obligations was not expected to require the use of