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LOS ANGELES, Jan. 26, 2009
(GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) today
announced that its Board of Directors has approved a 'say on pay'
policy. Under this new policy stockholders will have a non-binding
advisory vote on executive compensation starting at the company's 2010
annual meeting.
The advisory vote gives
stockholders the ability to advise the Board on its philosophy on the
annual compensation of the most highly compensated executives at the
company.
"We welcome ongoing
input from our stockholders. Oxy's Board of Directors strives to
maintain an ongoing, constructive dialogue with the goal of achieving
continuous improvement in all aspects of our corporate governance,
including executive compensation," said Dr. Ray R. Irani, Chairman and
Chief Executive Officer of Occidental.
"In recent years, we
have engaged in direct discussions with stockholders on various
important governance issues, including 'say-on-pay,' put a significant
amount of executive compensation 'at risk' based on the company's
performance and expanded and improved the executive compensation
disclosures in our proxy statements. We are now taking an additional
significant step forward by adopting 'say on pay,' providing for a
regular advisory vote," said Dr. Irani.
Additionally, Oxy
supports Congress establishing clear guidelines, setting a common
standard and adopting legislation to mandate an advisory vote on
executive compensation at all U.S. companies. This would enable
investors to have a consistent tool to give feedback at all companies in
which they invest.
As a result of the Oxy
Board's action, The Needmor Fund, the lead proponent, along with its
co-filers, have withdrawn the 'say on pay' stockholder proposal they had
planned to present at Oxy's upcoming 2009 Annual Meeting of
Stockholders. If this proposal had been approved by stockholders, it
could not have taken effect until the 2010 meeting. A similar proposal
received significant support, but did not pass, at the company's 2007
and 2008 annual meetings.
"We believe one
important way to ensure that shareholders maintain a meaningful voice in
executive compensation decisions is to submit executive pay packages to
a non-binding shareholder vote," stated Tim Smith of Walden Asset
Management, the investment manager for The Needmor Fund and a leader in
the movement for an Advisory Vote. "When tied to a robust investor
communication program on executive compensation which provides an avenue
for detailed shareowner feedback, the vote has additional meaning," said
Smith.
"We are extremely
pleased that Occidental's Board recognizes the importance of shareholder
input on compensation decisions that have the potential to affect their
investments," stated Daniel Stranahan of the Needmor Fund. The 2009
resolution seeking the Advisory Vote was led by the Needmor Fund and
co-filed by Academy of Our Lady of Lourdes; Christus Health; Providence
Trust; Mount St. Scholastica, Benedictine Sisters; Congregation of
Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration; and Convent Academy of the
Incarnate World.
In addition, AFSCME and
the AFL-CIO, together with its co-filer, The Firefighters' Pension Fund
of the City of Kansas City, Missouri, have agreed to withdraw their
'hold through retirement' and 'golden coffin' stockholder proposals they
submitted related to Occidental's executive compensation practices. This
was a result of the Board's agreement to expand the proxy statement
intent on equity retention and death benefits.
Richard Ferlauto,
Director, Corporate Governance & Pension Investment of AFSCME, stated,
"We are encouraged by the adoption of 'say on pay' at Occidental and
commend the Board for taking this and the other important steps to
improve transparency and accountability to shareholders."
"Allowing shareholders
to provide input on executive compensation packages is more important
than ever in the current economic environment. As long-term
shareholders, we are pleased that Occidental has adopted these reforms
and given investors a critical tool to hold the board accountable," said
Daniel F. Pedrotty, Director, AFL-CIO Office of Investment.
During the past three
years, Oxy's total shareholder return was 58 percent, compared to (-23)
percent and 37 percent, respectively, for the S&P 500 Index and the S&P
500 Integrated Oil and Gas Index. During the past five years, Oxy's
total shareholder return was 210 percent compared to (-10.5) percent and
108 percent, respectively, for the S&P 500 Index and the S&P 500
Integrated Oil and Gas Index.
About Oxy
Occidental Petroleum
Corporation is an international oil and gas exploration and production
company with operations in the United States, Middle East/North Africa
and Latin America regions. Oxy is the fourth largest U.S. oil and gas
company, based on equity market capitalization. Oxy's wholly owned
subsidiary, OxyChem, manufactures and markets chlor-alkali products and
vinyls. Occidental is committed to safeguarding the environment,
protecting the safety and health of employees and neighboring
communities and upholding high standards of social responsibility in all
of the company's worldwide operations.
CONTACT: Occidental Petroleum Corporation
Media
Richard S. Kline
310-443-6249
richard_kline@oxy.com
Investors
Chris Stavros
212-603-8184
chris_stavros@oxy.com
www.oxy.com
Walden Asset Management
Timothy Smith
617-726-7155
tsmith@bostontrust.com
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