EXHIBIT 99.1
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[OXY LOGO] NEWS RELEASE OCCIDENTAL PETROLEUM CORPORATION
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10889 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California 90024 (310) 208-8800
For Immediate Release: January 5, 2005
Occidental Reports Several Items Impacting 4th Quarter Earnings
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LOS ANGELES -- Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE: OXY) today announced
a number of fourth quarter 2004 charges and a tax credit that will impact the
comparability of its fourth quarter earnings to prior quarters. These items will
reduce net after-tax earnings by approximately $65 million, or $0.16 per share.
For strategic and economic reasons the company's chemicals affiliate,
Occidental Chemical Corporation (OxyChem) will exit the unprofitable vinyl
specialty resins business by closing the company's Pottstown, Pennsylvania
manufacturing facility effective immediately and take a pre-tax charge of $53
million. Approximately 220 employees will be affected by the closure. In
addition to the charge for closing the Pottstown plant, Occidental also will
take a pre-tax charge of $12 million to write-off certain production facilities
using mercury cell technology at OxyChem's Delaware City, Delaware chloralkali
plant. These actions were taken to strengthen the company's profitable core
chloralkali and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) business.
Occidental also will take pre-tax charges totaling approximately $76
million to increase its environmental remediation reserves, provide for several
ongoing litigation matters and increase its self-insurance reserves. The
environmental charge included in the total mainly reflects revisions of cost
estimates and changes in work programs at a number of existing remediation
sites.
These charges will be partially offset by a tax credit of approximately $27
million that will be recorded to reflect the settlement of certain income tax
audit issues.
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Contacts: Lawrence P. Meriage (media)
310-443-6562
Kenneth J. Huffman (investors)
212-603-8183
On the web: www.oxy.com