chairman's message

Maintaining investor confidence and trust has become increasingly important in today's global business environment. Occidental's Board of Directors and management are strongly committed to implementing policies and procedures that reflect a high level of ethical business practices. Occidental's corporate governance policies provide the framework for our business operations and emphasize our commitment to increase stockholder value while meeting all applicable legal requirements.

Several examples of our Board's proactive initiatives include confidential voting, requiring that at least two-thirds of the directors be independent, and the establishment of a lead independent director. In addition, we began publishing our corporate governance policies in our proxy statement in 1999, and posting them on our website in early 2001.

As of May, 2004 , Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), a proxy voting and corporate governance services, awarded Occidental a Corporate Governance Quotient and ranking of 94.6 for companies in the S&P Index and 97.1 in the energy group. This means Occidental outperforms 94.6 percent of the companies in the S&P Index and 97.1 percent of companies in the energy group.

We are committed to the pursuit of excellence, and we will continue evaluating ways to strengthen our policies and practices to promote the interests of our shareholders, partners, employees and the countries and communities in which we operate.

Dr. Ray R. Irani

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