LOS ANGELES, July 18, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) announced today that its Board of Directors has authorized the repurchase of an additional 20 million shares of the company's common stock. This brings to 95 million the total number of shares authorized for repurchase since Oxy began the repurchase program in 2005.
Under the program, the company has already repurchased approximately 59.5 million shares through the end of the second quarter 2008. An additional 35.5 million shares may now be repurchased by the company from time to time in the open market or otherwise. The share repurchases will continue to be funded without borrowing and are subject to market conditions and other factors.
Dr. Ray R. Irani, Occidental Petroleum Corporation Chairman and Chief Executive Officer stated, "Market conditions have given us the opportunity to purchase additional Oxy shares which we believe are currently trading at a significant discount to intrinsic share value."
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. Occidental 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
Statements in this release that contain words such as "will," "expect" or "estimate," or otherwise relate to the future, are forward-looking and involve risks and uncertainties that could significantly affect expected results. Factors that could cause results to differ materially include, but are not limited to: exploration risks, such as drilling of unsuccessful wells; global commodity pricing fluctuations and supply/demand considerations for oil, gas and chemicals; higher-than-expected costs; political risk; operational interruptions; changes in tax rates and not successfully completing (or any material delay in) any expansion, capital expenditure, acquisition, or disposition. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements which speak only as of the date of this release. 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. U.S. investors are urged to consider carefully the disclosure in our Form 10-K, available through the following toll-free telephone number, 1-888-OXYPETE (1-888-699-7383) or on the Internet at http://www.oxy.com. You also can obtain a copy from the SEC by calling 1-800-SEC-0330.