HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) announced today that its Board of Directors approved a reduction in the company’s quarterly dividend to $0.11 per share from $0.79 per share, effective July 2020. The company also announced it will reduce 2020 capital spending to between $3.5 billion and $3.7 billion from $5.2 billion to $5.4 billion and will implement additional operating and corporate cost reductions.
“Due to the sharp decline in global commodity prices, we are taking actions that will strengthen our balance sheet and continue to reduce debt,” said Vicki Hollub, Occidental’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “These actions lower our cash flow breakeven level to the low $30s WTI, excluding the benefit of our hedges, positioning us to succeed in a low commodity price environment.”
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.