LOS ANGELES, August 6, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) said today that GovernanceMetrics International (GMI), an independent governance agency, awarded Occidental its highest corporate governance score. Occidental was one of fifteen US and two Canadian firms, out of a total of 1,000 US and 600 non-US companies, to receive a top score of 10.0.
In a letter to Dr. Ray R. Irani, Occidental's chairman and chief executive officer, GMI stated that the rating "signifies that compared to our global universe Occidental Petroleum Corp. has significantly better governance practices than most other companies."
Dr. Irani said, "This highest rating of our corporate governance practices and policies by an independent rating agency validates our commitment to strong corporate governance, which we deem to be in the best interest of our shareholders."