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LOS ANGELES, July 19, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Dr. Dale R. Laurance,
President of Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) and head of
its oil and gas operations has announced his plan to retire December
31, 2004 upon completion of 21 years of service. Dr. Laurance's
decision was based on health related considerations. Dr. Laurance will
relinquish his oil and gas duties effective immediately, but will
continue to serve as President and remain on Occidental's Board of
Directors through the end of 2004. Dr. Ray R. Irani, Occidental's
Chairman and Chief Executive officer, will assume the additional title
of President on January 1, 2005.
Commenting on Dr. Laurance's retirement, Dr. Irani said, "Dale has been
a trusted colleague for more than 25 years and I will personally miss
his wise counsel, sharp insights and boundless enthusiasm. I want to
thank him for his innumerable contributions to the overall success of
our team in making Occidental one of the top performers in the oil and
gas industry."
Occidental's Board of Directors has promoted Stephen I. Chazen to the
position Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.
In addition to his current duties as CFO and head of Corporate
Development, Mr. Chazen also will be responsible for oversight of the
company's chemical operations and investor relations function.
John W. Morgan has been promoted to the position of President,
Occidental Oil and Gas Corporation with responsibility for all
worldwide exploration and production operations. Mr. Morgan, who
formerly was responsible for the company's worldwide oil and gas
production and engineering operations, remains an Executive Vice
President of Occidental Petroleum Corporation.
In addition, R. Casey Olson has been promoted to the position of
President, Occidental Development Company. In this role, Mr. Olson, who
also is a Vice President of Occidental Petroleum Corporation, will be
responsible for all international business development.
All three executives will report to Dr. Irani.
In announcing the new appointments, Dr Irani said, "We devote
considerable time and effort every year to our succession planning
process to assure that we have the right people in place to accomplish
our primary objective of creating top quartile returns for our
stockholders. Our business strategy, with its focus on disciplined
capital investment, remains unchanged. We have an excellent team in
place, and we have no plans for additional senior management changes in
the foreseeable future."
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