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Overview
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Building Mutually Beneficial Relationships
Actively engaging with our stakeholders, we strive to achieve positive impacts in our business locations around the world.
Oxy has a strong commitment to our neighbors and local communities. Our goal is, without fail, to appropriately consider the self-sufficiency, sustainability, health, safety and environment of these communities, and to conduct our business as a responsible corporate citizen.
In each of our business locations, we follow established procedures to gain a thorough understanding of the potential effects of Oxy’s presence on the local community and the surrounding region, and we develop action plans to advance our relationships with neighboring communities. Our Human Rights Policy requires initial stakeholder and social risk analyses, consistent monitoring, periodic reassessments and regular engagement with stakeholders to address community issues.
Oxy engages proactively with stakeholders — including neighbors, local governments and partners — with the goal of promoting positive, mutually beneficial outcomes everywhere we operate. We often partner with local, regional and international institutions that benefit families and communities by promoting public health and safety, environmental stewardship, economic development, education and cultural life.
In order to appropriately tailor our actions to the communities where we operate, our stakeholder engagement is led by our business management at each location, with support from the Social Responsibility department.
To develop and build positive, equitable relationships, we maintain open channels of communication with stakeholders. For example, Oxy Colombia has designed a methodology to include local communities in the process of planning and implementing social investments in the company’s areas of operation.
The Colombian Ministry of Environment or regional environmental agencies specify HES and social permit conditions for oil and gas development projects. Every year, before initiating the social investments, Oxy engages with local community action councils known as Juntas de Acción Comunal and voluntarily seeks their guidance to prioritize and allocate the investments. Additional open meetings are held during the year to discuss the status of the social investment projects and evaluate the results. This approach has enhanced transparency and effectiveness, and cultivates community interest and engagement.
While our form of outreach and the topics addressed vary due to the diversity of the communities where we operate, Oxy’s commitment to positive community engagement applies throughout our operations in the United States, Latin America and the Middle East and North Africa. For more information on Oxy’s recent SR efforts in these regions, please view our Media Library and the stories located in each of our SR performance areas (HES Performance, Economic Performance, Labor Practices, Human Rights and Society).
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 OxyChem Partners with Children’s Medical Center
OxyChem is an ongoing supporter of Children’s Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, one of the nation’s largest private, not-for-profit pediatric healthcare providers. Through 2010, OxyChem’s cumulative donations to Children’s Medical Center to facilitate patient care and research totaled $250,000. Patient care at Children’s Medical Center ranges from simple eye exams to specialized treatments for heart disease, hematology-oncology and cystic fibrosis. As the primary pediatric teaching facility for the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Children’s Medical Center is instrumental in developing treatments and therapies for pediatric diseases and provides hope and healing for thousands of children and their families.
 Oxy Oman Supports Dar Al Atta’a Student Care Program
In 2010 Oxy Oman made a donation to Dar Al Atta’a, a charity that assists underprivileged families and children in Oman. Oxy’s contribution benefited the organization’s Student Care Program, which provides needy children with uniforms, school supplies, books and nutritious meals. With support from Oxy and other companies, Dar Al Atta’a will provide approximately 900 students with breakfast meals and 3,500 students with school bags and stationery in 2010-2011. The program aims to improve the quality of life for those who are less fortunate.
 Oxy Walks for Breast Cancer Awareness
Employees at Occidental of Elk Hills and Vintage Production California volunteered their time for the 2010 Lace’n It Up walk benefiting Links for Life, a breast cancer awareness organization based near Oxy’s operations in Kern County, California. With Oxy’s support, the walk has become the signature event promoting breast cancer education and awareness in Kern County. The event raised approximately $31,000 in 2010, up from about $12,000 in 2009. Proceeds will provide mammograms for uninsured or underinsured women under the age of 40 and support an array of other Links for Life services, such as a wig boutique and research library. In addition to participating in the 2010 walk, Oxy employees assisted with registration, security and clean-up.
The one-mile walk began four years ago as a single event in downtown Bakersfield. In 2009, Oxy played a key role in getting other local companies involved, and a second walk was added on the Bakersfield River Walk trails adjacent to Occidental of Elk Hills’ offices. A third walk in east Bakersfield was launched in 2010.
 OxyChem Supports Earthquake Relief Efforts in Chile
Early in the morning of February 27, 2010, an 8.8-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami struck Chile. Just 60 miles from the epicenter of the devastating temblor is the city of Talcahuano, home to an OxyChem chlor-alkali facility.
Talcahuano incurred significant damage from the earthquake. Scores of residents were injured and left without power, shelter, food and water. The widespread impact of this natural disaster extended to OxyChem’s plant, its employees and their families. Oxy responded immediately by providing fuel, water, generators, supplies and monetary assistance to OxyChem employees and their families. Oxy also provided support and supplies to assist the broader community of Talcahuano, and donated funds to help restore the city’s damaged infrastructure.
The company’s monetary donations were used for construction of emergency housing, the rebuilding of schools, and purchasing crucial equipment for the Talcahuano Volunteer Fire Department. In total, Oxy contributed $575,000 toward relief efforts for OxyChem employees and the communities affected by the earthquake and tsunami.
The products OxyChem manufactures in Talcahuano — chlorine, caustic soda and bleach — were in high demand immediately after the disaster. In fact, OxyChem provides nearly all of the bleach used to purify water in Chile, a resource greatly needed during the crisis. Until its Talcahuano plant resumed operations, about three months after the earthquake, OxyChem provided these important products to Chilean customers from inventory stock and secured additional supplies from neighboring countries.
 Oxy Boosts Annual Fund-Raiser for Pyles Boys Camp
When R. M. Pyles Boys Camp in California’s Sequoia National Monument sought to revitalize its annual fund-raising event, Occidental of Elk Hills and Vintage Production California responded to the challenge. The expanded 2010 event raised $100,000 for Pyles Boys Camp, which provides youth leadership and character development programs for selected at-risk male youths aged 12 to 14.
“The idea was to make the Pyles barbecue the summer picnic event for oil companies and service companies supporting our industry,” said Oxy Elk Hills Operations Manager Alan White, who served as chairperson for the event. “The idea was a hit. As a result, attendance in 2010 was over 4,000 people versus 600 people in 2009, and funds raised increased from $20,000 to $100,000.”
In addition to its key planning role, Oxy served as an event sponsor and provided volunteers who served lunch and staffed the activity booths. Employees and their families lined up for Oxy-sponsored activities including face painting, a kids’ arts and crafts area and a Safety Prize Wheel. The inaugural corporate challenge race held to kick off the event was won by the team from Vintage.
 Supporting a Vital Resource for Burn Patients in California
Oxy has made a $200,000 commitment to the Grossman Burn Center at San Joaquin Community Hospital (SJCH) in Kern County, California, where Oxy Elk Hills is located. Designated for the center's inpatient facility, the donation reflects Oxy's commitment to protect the safety and health of its employees and neighboring communities. The Grossman Burn Center "will be life-changing for those who have suffered from burns," said Bill Albrecht, president of Oxy Oil and Gas – USA. "It will offer added relief to families that can now have their loved ones close by." Said Robert J. Beehler, SJCH president and CEO, "Oxy has demonstrated once again that this is a community that rallies around important causes."
 Kids Make Pacific Ocean Their Classroom
The Think Watershed project, part of Think Earth Environmental Education Foundation, is a collaborative educational program that offers marine science instruction aboard the Floating Lab, a seagoing vessel with a mission to inspire the next generation. Oxy's subsidiary, THUMS Long Beach Company, is a program sponsor for these floating field trips around Long Beach Harbor, which in 2009 enabled more than 3,500 Los Angeles County fourth- and fifth-graders – some of whom had never seen the ocean – to learn about water quality and plant and animal life in the Pacific. The THUMS production islands provide a model of environmental stewardship as well as a picturesque backdrop for the Floating Lab trips, which last about three hours.
 See "Marine Science Education in Long Beach, California" video in the Media Library.
 Support for Al Noor Institute for the Blind
A 2008 contribution from Oxy will help to fund activities at the Al Noor Institute for the Blind, which provides services to promote independence among the visually challenged in Doha, Qatar. Said Khalid Saeed Al Sheaibi, Manager of Public Relations and Society Services at the Institute, "The continued support we have received from Occidental reflects the degree of interest that the company has in the development and wellbeing of the entire Qatari community, and in particular those with special needs."
 Protecting Cultural History: The Yokuts
The "Native American Lifeways" exhibit at the Buena Vista Museum of Natural History highlights the Foothill Yokuts, who inhabited California's San Joaquin Valley for over 7,000 years. Oxy was the main sponsor of the exhibition's 2008 rededication ceremony, which featured drumming, ceremonial dancing and a blessing of Yokuts artifacts. The company is actively involved in protecting the area's rich cultural history. Gene Albitre, President of the Native American Heritage Preservation Council of Kern County, commended Oxy for "keeping its promises, respecting Native American culture and going above and beyond their original agreement with the Department of Energy."
See "Preserving Cultural Heritage in Kern County, California" video in the Media Library.
 Oxy Brings the Performing Arts to LA's BEST Students
Committed to providing a safe haven for children when the school day ends, Los Angeles nonprofit LA's BEST provides supervised after-school education, enrichment and education programs for more than 26,000 elementary students throughout the city. In 2007, employees from Oxy's headquarters brought the Center Theatre Group, one of the nation's leading arts and cultural organizations, together with LA's BEST students at Hillcrest Elementary School in South Los Angeles. The Center Theatre Group staged a production of "Animal Logic," a two-person vaudeville act that explores elements of storytelling, play-making skills, morals and traditions.
 Oxy Partners with Texas Family Literacy Organization
In 2007, Oxy Permian formed a partnership with Yoakum County Family Literacy (YCFL) in Denver City, Texas. YCFL offers courses in English as a second language, computer skills, parenting, early childhood education and GED preparation. To help maintain the organization's success, Oxy Permian provided funds to hire a literacy outreach coordinator. With more students and families enrolled and attending courses regularly, 2007 was the best year in the organization's 18-year history of providing literacy services to families. To date, participants of YCFL services have logged more than 7,800 hours of literacy instruction.
See "Promoting Adult Literacy in Denver City, Texas" video in the Media Library.
 Oxy Permian Supports West Texas Schools
Many schools in Oxy's area of operations in the Permian Basin of West Texas benefit from the company's monetary donations and dedicated employee volunteers. In Midland and Odessa, Oxy partnered with local newspapers to bring newspapers into the classroom. With current events at their fingertips, hundreds of students each year engage in new, creative learning approaches. To help Levelland high school students in math and science, Oxy provided two classroom sets of graphing calculators. At Midland South Elementary, Oxy implemented an award-winning pen pal program, matching fourth-grade students with approximately 40 employees. The program improved students' writing skills and served as a mentoring program for at-risk students.
 Science Fair with a Twist
In 2006 and 2007, OxyChem's Geismar, Louisiana, plant participated in the ChemFriends Expo, which raises awareness of and interest in chemistry among students and the local community. The Expo is a science fair with a twist. Instead of student experiments, it is the adults who are "under the microscope" while students watch, learn and participate. The Ascension Parish School Board sponsors the annual event in cooperation with more than a dozen member companies.
 Clinic without Borders
Since 2005, the Mukhaizna Clinic has provided primary healthcare and medical assistance to Oxy Oman staff and surrounding communities, including employees from Oman Air, Oman Gulf, MB Petroleum Services and the Royal Oman Police. Recently the clinic underwent renovations, expanded and purchased new equipment and an ambulance. With a growing number of people in the area, the clinic provides an essential resource to treat patients, increase awareness of medical conditions and prevent injuries in the workplace. In addition, the clinic tests for potable water, conducts camp and contractor clinic inspections, presents health topics, offers first aid training, provides airport operations support and offers vaccinations. Through November 2007, more than 4,400 patients were treated at the clinic.
See "Medical Clinic in Mukhaizna, Oman" video in the Media Library.
 Oxy Promotes Safe Driving in Libya and Oman
Oxy-sponsored programs are promoting road safety around our operations in Libya and Oman, where traffic accidents pose a significant risk to the general public as well as Oxy employees and their families. The Libya Safe Driving Campaign includes instruction on road safety and defensive driving for employees, their families and contractors who drive Oxy vehicles. In Oman, the Oxy Road Safety Campaign, designed for schoolchildren in communities near the Mukhaizna oilfield, uses cartoons to convey key messages about vehicle and pedestrian safety. Oxy provided stationery, pens, notebooks and other items that reinforce the safety theme while helping the schools replenish needed supplies.
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