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."