Oxy strives to be a valuable contributor to the communities in which it operates. We boost regional economies both directly and indirectly through hiring of local workers, purchasing from local suppliers and payment of state and local taxes, as well as our investments in HES compliance and performance.
As part of a comprehensive corporate strategy, we engage in a variety of partnerships that help to promote economic sustainability for the communities where we operate. Year after year, these activities create economic opportunity in our global business locations while contributing to Oxy’s success and building stockholder value.
Hiring
Oxy’s proven success in diverse cultural environments is driven by a business model that encourages local economies to thrive. A key element of that success is our global work force. We have an ongoing commitment to hire national citizens in the various countries where we operate, and to train them in all relevant disciplines. This enhances the company’s operating efficiency while expanding technical and managerial expertise in emerging economies.
Oxy maintains a strong commitment to “Omanization,” a program to place Omani citizens in the full range of available positions, from entry-level to executive management. Omani employment at Oxy locations reached 73 percent in 2008, with some locations as high as 93 percent. Similarly, Oxy Qatar is investing in a variety of recruitment and career development initiatives to increase its "Qatarization" levels, and is now considered one of the top companies in the region for its efforts to hire and retain national employees.
Oxy’s hiring process in Colombia is designed to maximize local work force participation. The company gives priority to prospective employees from the communities surrounding its projects in Caño Limón, Caricare and La Cira-Infantas. In collaboration with the National Vocational Training Service (SENA), Oxy Colombia provides information on skill requirements for new openings, and SENA offers training programs targeted to the requirements.
Of the approximately 2,000 employees and contractors working at Oxy Colombia’s Llanos Norte operations in Caño Limón and Caricare, 66 percent are from neighboring communities in the Arauca region. At the El Centro operations in La Cira-Infantas, 29 percent of the approximately 3,800 contractors are from nearby communities; the remainder of the work force is from other cities and towns across Colombia.
Purchasing from local suppliers
Oxy’s commitment to be a valuable, contributing presence in its business locations is exemplified by the company’s use of locally based suppliers. Provided that safety and quality standards are met, Oxy routinely selects local suppliers. By choosing to use suppliers near its operations, Oxy injects millions of dollars into local economies each year.
Oxy’s purchasing choices also stimulate regional economies across the United States. For example, in Louisiana alone, OxyChem purchased $100 million in goods and services from local vendors in 2008, up from $80 million in 2007.
In the Middle East, Oxy Qatar used 251 local vendors in 2008, spending a total of more than $243 million. This represented 46 percent of all suppliers used in Qatar, and 57 percent of Oxy’s total expenditures in the country. In Oman, 85 percent of Oxy’s 2008 purchases were from local suppliers.
In Latin America, 97 percent of Oxy Argentina’s purchases came from national suppliers, including 30 percent from suppliers near our operations. Oxy Colombia’s purchases of goods and services from local vendors amounted to 22 percent of its total purchasing expense in 2008. The company also launched a new program that prepares Arauca suppliers to become Oxy contractors.
Taxes
Oxy paid approximately $1.7 billion in U.S. federal income taxes in 2008. Additionally, Oxy paid a combined total of more than $730 million in U.S. state and local taxes in 2008. Oxy ranks among the largest taxpayers in many of the counties in which we operate. Oxy also paid foreign income taxes in 2008 of approximately $2.6 billion.
Partnerships
In addition to its direct economic impacts, Oxy boosts regional economies indirectly, through a multitude of partnerships with community organizations, local governments and other entities in the public and private sectors. Our support of worthy projects generates economic opportunity and promotes long-term sustainability for local enterprises.
In Abu Dhabi, for example, Oxy is a key supporter of the Emirates Foundation, whose projects focus on research and development, education, arts and culture, and social and environmental development in the region. Oxy’s Chairman, Dr. Ray R. Irani, serves on the foundation’s Board of Trustees along with a distinguished group of chief executives, government ministers and prominent members of the Emirati business community. In 2008, Oxy co-sponsored an Emirates Foundation research project on the attitudes, values and accomplishments of Emirati youth.
A hemisphere away from the U.A.E., Oxy is partnering with business and civic organizations on an initiative — the Committee for Evaluation and Follow-up of Royalties Investment — to promote transparency, accountability and civic oversight of oil royalty investments in Arauca, Colombia. The project is being facilitated by the Colombian chapter of Transparency International. The International Finance Corporation has added its support in the form of a comprehensive training program to strengthen citizens’ oversight and participation.