history

From our modest roots as a small, California oil and gas company in the 1920s, Oxy has become a world leader in the energy and chemical industry.

In 1961, we made our first major discovery, drilling to previously unexplored depths near the Sacramento Basin in northern California to discover the state's second largest dry gas field at Lathrop.

Over the next 10 years, we expanded our worldwide operation with successes in Libya, Peru, Venezuela, Bolivia, Trinidad and the United Kingdom. Oxy's explorationists uncovered vast reserves of oil and gas in the dense jungles of South America to the cold, stormy waters of the North Sea. By the mid-seventies, Oxy was firmly established.

In 1968, Oxy entered the chemical business with the acquisition of Hooker Chemicals. Today Oxy Chemical Corporation (OxyChem) is a leading chemical manufacturer with interests in basic chemicals, vinyls and performance chemical products.

We have continued our historical pattern of technical and financial success in our oil and gas operations around the world. New ventures, including new discoveries and enhanced oil recovery projects, were undertaken in Colombia, Pakistan, Oman and Yemen. Gas dominant operations included projects in Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Bangladesh, the Dutch North Sea, and the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

Beginning in 1997, a series of acquisitions, sales and asset swaps transformed Oxy into a more highly focused oil and gas company with large, long-lived, high margin oil and gas assets concentrated in the United States, Middle East and Latin America.

Our acquisitions of the former Elk Hills Naval Petroleum Reserves in California (1998) and Altura Energy Ltd. in Texas (2000) have made Oxy the largest gas producer in California and the largest oil producer in Texas.

LIBYA - Oxy won exploration rights in 1965 and achieved exploration and development success until all activities were suspended in 1986 as the result of economic sanctions imposed by the Unites States government. In 2004, the United States government lifted all of the principal economic sanctions against Libya. Oxy had its first lifting from its Libyan operations in late September, 2005. Average production for 2006 was 22,000 BOE per day.

OMAN - Mukhaizna oil field: In July 2005, Oxy signed a new production-sharing contract ()SC) for the Mukhaizna oil field with the Government of the Sultanate of Oman. Under the terms of the new PSC, Oxy took over field operations on September 1, 2005 of the giant Mukhaizna oil field.

ARGENTINA - In 2006, Oxy acquired Vintage Petroleum’s production assets in Argentina. Net production averaged 36,000 BOE per day in 2006 and Oxy expects to nearly double that over the next five years through aggressive waterflooding and EOR projects. During 2006, Oxy drilled 135 new wells and performed a number of recompletions.

DOLPHIN - In July 2007, the Dolphin Project became operational, delivering natural gas from Dolphin wells in Qatar's North Firle dot customers in the UAE. As one of the largest energy initiatives undertaken in the Middle East, the Dolphin Project is expected to have a significant impact on the region's development.

OXYCHEM - Acquisition of Vulcan Assets: In June, 2005, Oxy completed the purchase of three chlor-alkali chemical manufacturing facilities from Vulcan Chemical with producing facilities in Wichita, Kansas and Geismar, Louisiana.

- top -