Occidental Provides Update on Capital Spending and Cost Reductions

HOUSTON, March 25, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE: OXY) announced today a further reduction in 2020 capital spending to between $2.7 billion and $2.9 billion from its original 2020 guidance of $5.2 billion to $5.4 billion, a midpoint reduction of 47 percent. At current commodity prices, 2020 annual production from continuing operations is expected to be 1,275,000 to 1,305,000 BOEPD, a reduction of 6 percent compared to prior guidance of 1,360,000 to 1,390,000 BOEPD.

The Company also announced it will reduce 2020 operating and corporate costs by at least $600 million compared to the original 2020 plan, including significant salary reductions for executive leadership. These cost reductions are in addition to previously announced operating and overhead synergies of $1.1 billion that are expected to be fully realized in 2020. The combination of synergy realizations and additional cost reductions is expected to reduce SG&A, Other Operating Expense, and Exploration Overhead to approximately $500 million on a future quarterly run-rate basis. Operating cost reductions are expected to lower 2020 domestic operating costs to approximately $7.00 per BOE.

"We are making solid progress with additional cost reductions to help withstand the low commodity price environment and other macroeconomic pressures impacting our industry and the global economy," said President and Chief Executive Officer Vicki Hollub. "Based on our team's recent efforts, we now expect to significantly lower our costs in all aspects of the business. We will continue to take actions as necessary to further strengthen our balance sheet and ensure the long-term viability of our business."

About Occidental

Occidental is an international oil and gas exploration and production company with operations in the United States, Middle East and Latin America. We are the leading producer and largest acreage holder in the Permian Basin. Occidental is advancing a lower-carbon future with our subsidiary Oxy Low Carbon Ventures, which promotes innovative technologies that drive cost efficiencies and economically grow our business while reducing emissions. Occidental's midstream and marketing segment provides flow assurance for our oil and gas segment, while maximizing the value of our products. OxyChem, our chemical subsidiary, is among the top three U.S. producers for the principal products it manufactures and markets. Occidental posts or provides links to important information on our website at oxy.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including but not limited to statements about Occidental's expectations, beliefs, plans or forecasts. All statements other than statements of historical fact are "forward-looking statements" for purposes of federal and state securities laws, and they include, but are not limited to: any projections of earnings, revenue or other financial items or future financial position or sources of financing; any statements of the plans, strategies and objectives of management for future operations or business strategy; any statements regarding future economic conditions or performance; any statements of belief; and any statements of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. Words such as "estimate," "project," "predict," "will," "would," "should," "could," "may," "might," "anticipate," "plan," "intend," "believe," "expect," "aim," "goal," "target," "objective," "likely" or similar expressions that convey the prospective nature of events or outcomes are generally indicative of forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press 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.

Although Occidental believes that the expectations reflected in any of our forward-looking statements are reasonable, actual results may differ from anticipated results, sometimes materially. Factors that could cause results to differ from those projected or assumed in any forward-looking statement include, but are not limited to: global commodity price fluctuations; the extent to which Occidental is able to successfully integrate Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (Anadarko), manage expanded operations and realize the anticipated benefits of combining Occidental and Anadarko; Occidental's ability to successfully complete the sale of the remaining assets, liabilities, businesses and operations of Occidental's Africa assets and other planned divestitures; world health events; supply and demand considerations for Occidental's products; higher-than-expected costs; the regulatory approval environment; not successfully completing, or any material delay of, field developments, expansion projects, capital expenditures, efficiency projects, acquisitions or dispositions; uncertainties about the estimated quantities of oil and natural gas reserves; lower-than-expected production from development projects or acquisitions; exploration risks; disruptions to, capacity constraints in, or other limitations on the pipeline systems that deliver our oil and natural gas and other processing and transportation considerations; general economic slowdowns domestically or internationally; difficult and adverse conditions in the domestic and global capital and credit markets; the impact of potential changes in Occidental's credit ratings; uncertainty from the expected discontinuance of LIBOR and transition to any other interest rate benchmark; political conditions and events; liability under environmental regulations, including remedial actions; litigation; disruption or interruption of production or manufacturing or facility damage due to accidents, chemical releases, labor unrest, weather, natural disasters, cyber attacks or insurgent activity; failure of risk management; changes in law or regulations; reorganization or restructuring of Occidental's operations; changes in tax rates; actions by third parties that are beyond Occidental's control; and the ability to generate cash to fund operations and repay indebtedness.  

Additional information concerning these and other factors can be found in Occidental's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including Occidental's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K.  

Contacts

Media:
Melissa E. Schoeb
713-366-5615
[email protected]

or

Investors:
Jeff Alvarez
713-215-7864
[email protected]

SOURCE Occidental

Related Links

http://www.oxy.com