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.