Occidental
Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) announced today that its Board of
Directors has increased the company’s dividend 18.5 percent to an annual
rate of $2.56 per share, from the previous annual rate of $2.16 per
share. This increase brings the company’s compound annual dividend
growth rate over the last 11 years to 16 percent.
President and Chief Executive Officer Stephen I. Chazen said, “We have
now increased our dividend every year for 11 consecutive years, and a
total of 12 times during that period. This 18.5-percent increase brings
the 11-year compounded dividend growth rate to 16 percent per year. The
total increase in the annual dividend rate from 2002 is 412 percent.
“This increase reflects our confidence in the company’s financial
strength and future performance. Consistent dividend growth, together
with growing oil and gas production and well-above-average returns on
capital, are the primary elements of Oxy’s long-term business strategy.”
The $0.64 per share quarterly dividend will be payable on April 15,
2013, to stockholders of record as of March 8, 2013.
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 one of the
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; higher-than-expected costs;
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 or acquisitions;
exploration risks such as drilling unsuccessful wells; any changes in
general economic conditions domestically or internationally; the ability
to attracted trained engineers; 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,”
“strategy” or similar expressions that convey that these are potential
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 or future
events or otherwise. Material risks that may affect Occidental’s results
of operations and financial position appear in Part I, Item 1A “Risk
Factors” of the 2011 Form 10-K.
