Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend Increase

Published on Thursday, 09 February 2012 13:35 Written by TradersHuddle Staff

LOS ANGELES-( Business Wire )-

Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) announced today that its Board of Directors has increased the company’s dividend 17 percent to an annual rate of $2.16 per share, compared to the previous annual rate of $1.84 per share. This increase brings the company’s compound annual dividend growth rate over the last 10 years to 15.8 percent.

President and Chief Executive Officer Stephen I. Chazen said, “We have now increased our dividend every year for 10 consecutive years, and a total of 11 times during that period. This 17-percent increase brings the 10-year compounded dividend growth rate to 15.8 percent per year. The total increase in the annual dividend rate from 2002 is 332 percent.

“We are confident in our company’s financial strength and in our continued solid financial and operational performance. Dividend growth along with rising production and well-above-average returns on capital are the key elements in Oxy’s long-term strategy to achieve top-quartile total shareholder returns in our peer group.”

The $0.54 per share quarterly dividend will be payable on April 15, 2012, to stockholders of record as of March 9, 2012.

About Oxy

Occidental Petroleum Corporation is an international oil and gas exploration and production company with operations in the United States, Middle East/North Africa and Latin America regions. Oxy is the fourth largest U.S. oil and gas company, based on equity market capitalization. Oxy's wholly owned subsidiary, OxyChem, manufactures and markets chlor-alkali products and vinyls. Oxy is committed to safeguarding the environment, protecting the safety and health of employees and neighboring communities and upholding high standards of social responsibility in all of the company's worldwide operations.

Forward-Looking Statements

Portions of this release contain forward-looking statements and involve risks and uncertainties that could materially affect expected results of operations, liquidity, cash flows and business prospects. Factors that could cause results to differ materially include, but are not limited to: global commodity pricing fluctuations; supply and demand considerations for Occidental’s products; general domestic political and regulatory approval conditions; international political conditions; not successfully completing, or any material delay of, any development of new fields, expansion projects, capital expenditures, efficiency-improvement projects, acquisitions or dispositions; potential failure to achieve expected production from existing and future oil and gas development projects; exploration risks such as drilling unsuccessful wells; any general economic recession or slowdown domestically or internationally; higher-than-expected costs; potential liability for remedial actions under existing or future environmental regulations and litigation; potential liability resulting from pending or future litigation; potential disruption or interruption of Occidental’s production or manufacturing or damage to facilities due to accidents, chemical releases, labor unrest, weather, natural disasters, political events or insurgent activity; failure of risk management; changes in law or regulations; or changes in tax rates. Words such as “confidence,” “continue,” “will,” “expect” or similar expressions that convey the uncertainty of future events or outcomes generally indicate forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this report. Unless legally required, Occidental does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Material risks that may affect Occidental’s results of operations and financial position appear in Part 1, Item 1A “Risk Factors” of the 2010 Form 10-K.

Occidental Petroleum CorporationMedia: Melissa E. Schoeb310-443-6504melissa_schoeb@oxy.comorInvestors: Chris Stavros212-603-8184chris_stavros@oxy.comOn the web: www.oxy.com