LOS ANGELES, June 23, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) announced today the signing of the full 30-year agreements with the Libyan National Oil Company (NOC) to upgrade its existing petroleum contracts.
Occidental Petroleum Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Ray R. Irani attended the signing ceremony with Libyan officials in Tripoli, Libya, and stated, "We believe these new agreements with NOC represent an important step toward Libya's goal of doubling oil production to more than 3 million barrels per day in the near future."
The new agreements, which cover fields with approximately 2.5 billion barrels of recoverable high-quality oil reserves, allow NOC and Occidental to design and implement major field redevelopment and exploration programs in the prolific Sirte Basin. After capital investment over the next five years of approximately $5 billion, gross production is expected to triple from current production to 300,000 barrels per day.
Oxy began operations in Libya in 1965 and continued operating until U.S. sanctions were imposed in 1986. Oxy was the first U.S. company to resume oil operations in Libya after the U.S. sanctions were lifted in 2004.
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. 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.
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