Angeles

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.

California state oil/natural gas officials have scheduled the first in a series of all-day public workshops for Feb. 19 in Los Angeles to gain feedback on draft hydraulic fracturing (fracking) rules for the state.

With U.S. natural gas prices still the “great uncertainty,” Los Angeles-based Occidental Petroleum Corp. (Oxy) is undertaking a cost-cutting program designed to increase margin while it continues to emphasize oil production growth over natural gas in its domestic U.S. plays, CEO Steve Chazen said Thursday during a 4Q2012 conference call. He reported lower quarter-over-quarter results related to a one-time Midcontinent natural gas assets impairment charge.

With U.S. natural gas prices still the “great uncertainty,” Los Angeles-based Occidental Petroleum Corp. (Oxy) is undertaking a cost-cutting program designed to increase margin while it continues to emphasize oil production growth over gas in its domestic U.S. plays, CEO Steve Chazen said Thursday.

Los Angeles-based Occidental Petroleum Corp. named a new executive vice president/CFO, Cynthia Walker, a managing director with Goldman, Sachs & Co. Walker starts her new job Aug. 6, replacing James Lienert, who will move to the position of executive vice president for business support after two years as CFO. Walker has had a 12-year career with Goldman Sachs, during which she advised clients on energy industry transactions as a senior member of the natural resources group based in Houston. She also was a member of Goldman’s mergers and acquisitions group.

Sempra Energy’s Los Angeles-based Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) utility is making preparations to install nearly six million smart gas meters in what is said to be the largest such program ever undertaken in the gas utility sector. Sempra’s combination utility, San Diego Gas and Electric Co. is currently installing both gas and electric smart meters throughout its system in San Diego County and southern Orange County. SoCalGas’s $1 billion program is expected to take through 2017 to complete. The utility’s representatives have been meeting with community leaders to explain the advanced metering network while they also has assemble a 150-person internal staff to carry out the implementation with contractors.

The California Department of Conservation’s Oil/Gas Division goes to the heart of the state’s energy production region in Bakersfield Wednesday night to kick off a series of eight public workshops on hydraulic facturing (fracking) as a data-gathering phase prior to writing draft rules to more precisely regulate the oil/gas drilling process.

Los Angeles-based Occidental Petroleum Corp. (Oxy) has named a new vice president/treasurer, Christopher Stavros, 48, who has been the oil/gas exploration and production (E&P) company’s director of investor relations since 2006. Stavros will continue to oversee the investor relations function in his new capacity, according to Oxy CEO Stephen Chazen, who said Stavros has a comprehensive understanding of both the financial and operational aspects of Oxy and its E&P business. Before joining Oxy in 2005, Stavros held positions with Ernst & Young, Bristol-Meyers Squibb, Prudential Securities and UBS. He holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Boston University and an MBA from the University of Rochester’s Simon School of Business.

With an emphasis on oil over natural gas, Los Angeles-based Occidental Petroleum Corp. (Oxy) continued to shatter company production records in barrels of oil equivalent (boe) globally and domestically, Oxy senior executives said Thursday. At 755,000 boe Oxy’s daily oil/gas production was the highest in its history; and its U.S. totals of 455,000 boe set a record for the sixth straight quarter.