Los Angeles-based Occidental Petroleum Corp. (Oxy) set a record U.S. production at 478,000 boe/d in 1Q2013, its 10th consecutive record quarter, Oxy officials reported Thursday during a conference call with analysts. Income from continuing operations during the quarter was down slightly from the same period last year ($1.4 billion, or $1.69/diluted share, vs. $1.6 billion, or $1.92/diluted share, in 1Q2012), they said.

CEO Stephen Chazen refused to answer questions about the company’s ongoing succession planning and search for his replacement. He said that what the company has previously said should suffice, and he would not comment on his future at the company.

“As I have said before, I remain committed to staying throughout the succession process,” said Chazen, before taking questions limited to the performance of the company. “We do not have anything to add beyond our public announcements about the ongoing Board [of Directors] activities and succession process.”

The Oxy board recently issued a statement to clarify the current relationship between former CEO and current executive chairman Ray Irani and Chazen, who has been CEO since 2010. The board reiterated its support for the direction of the company and the ongoing succession process, which centers on Irani’s announcement that he will retire from the board at the end of 2014. The succession process was initiated in 2010; it has not been clearly stated whether the design is for Chazen to move up or out.

Chazen would not speculate on whether he would be around to see Oxy reach its goal of 1 million boe/d production worldwide, but he did reiterate that the company is continuing to grow and prosper and its long-term strategy remains to have an even larger U.S. domestic business, along with a strong international presence. Total 1Q2013 Oxy production was 763,000 boe/d.

“The company is executing well, and everyday I am very happy to talk about the operations,” Chazen said. “I think we will continue to grow nicely; a million boe/d is a reasonable objective. I think you will see that the strategy of building a large domestic business together with a highly profitable international business will work for us. That’s the vision right now.”

Oxy highlighted a 19% drop in its domestic well and operating costs in 1Q2013, compared to 2012. “Overall, we generated cash flow from operations of $2.9 billion before changes in working capital for the first quarter of 2013 and invested $2.1 billion in capital expenditures,” Chazen said.

Domestic operations will continue to ramp up in California, the Permian Basin and the Bakken, Oxy senior executives said. There will be a particular emphasis on the Permian, where the company plans to invest $1.9 billion, two-thirds of which will be for new oil plays involving about 300 wells, 90% focused in several plays, including the Wolfberry, Delaware Sands and Wolfbone.

While talking bullishly about the Permian, Chazen and other Oxy operating executives stressed that there will be growth opportunities in California and the Bakken, too, and the company will go after them. In California, Chazen said Oxy has built a program for 2013 “that doesn’t depend on getting a lot of new permits.”

©Copyright 2013Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. The preceding news reportmay not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, in anyform, without prior written consent of Intelligence Press, Inc.