Occidental Petroleum 2001 Annual Report Download - page 5

deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM), with first production expected late in 2002. BP
p.l.c. (BP) is the operator.
Occidental has integrated the Altura properties purchased in April 2000
from BP and the Royal Dutch/Shell Group (Shell) with its previously existing
Permian Basin operation (Oxy Permian) in Southwest Texas and Southeast New
Mexico. Over half of Oxy Permian's production is from fields into which carbon
dioxide (CO2) is injected as a tertiary recovery technique.
In late 2000, Occidental purchased BP's 75-percent working interest in the
Bravo Dome CO2 unit in northern New Mexico, which has gross CO2 production of
approximately 320 MMcf per day.
Occidental also owns a large concentration of gas reserves, production
interests and royalty interests in the Hugoton area of Kansas and Oklahoma. The
Hugoton field is the largest natural gas field ever discovered in North America.
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MIDDLE EAST
In Qatar, Occidental is the operator of the Idd el Shargi North and South
Dome fields under separate production-sharing contracts.
In Yemen, Occidental owns working interests in the Masila field in Block 14
(38 percent) and the East Shabwa field in Block 10 (28.6 percent). In addition,
Occidental has interests in seven exploration blocks encompassing nearly 15
million acres. Of these, Occidental is the operator of Blocks 44 and 20 with
working interests of 75 percent and 50 percent, respectively, and has a
40-percent working interest in each of five blocks - Blocks 11, 12, 36, 56 and
59 - on the border with Saudi Arabia.
In Oman, Occidental is the operator of Block 9, with a 65-percent working
interest, which contains the Safah oil field and six small oil fields along the
southern border of the block. Occidental also is pursuing exploration
opportunities in Block 27.
Operations in Qatar, Oman and Yemen are all conducted under
production-sharing contracts. Occidental's contractual net share of production
in each of these operations varies annually depending on the market price of oil
and the level of investment.
In 2001, Occidental was selected to participate in Core Venture Two of the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's Natural Gas Initiative, which includes exploration
acreage, appraisal and development of discovered gas fields, a power plant and
an optional petrochemical plant. Final agreements are currently expected to be
signed in 2002.
OTHER EASTERN HEMISPHERE
In southern Pakistan, Occidental has working interests, which vary from 25
to 30 percent, in the three Badin Blocks.
In Russia, Occidental owns a 50-percent interest in a joint venture
company, Vanyoganneft, in the western Siberian oil basin.
LATIN AMERICA
Occidental has a 35-percent working interest and is operator of the Cano
Limon oil field in Colombia. Occidental also has an approximately 44-percent
interest in the Cano Limon-Covenas oil pipeline and a marine export terminal
operated by Colombia's national oil company, Ecopetrol. The pipeline transports
oil produced from the Cano Limon field for export to international markets. In
addition, Occidental has an 88-percent working interest in three exploration
blocks encompassing 9,325 square miles in the Central Llanos Basin.
In Ecuador, Occidental has a 60-percent working interest and is operator of
Block 15, in the Oriente Basin, under a production-sharing agreement, converted
in 1999 from a risk-service contract.
Occidental also has an approximately 12-percent interest in a 500-kilometer
heavy oil pipeline being constructed to transport oil from the Oriente Basin to
the port of Esmeraldas. The pipeline is expected to be operational in the first