Occidental Petroleum 2006 Annual Report Download - page 5

Competition and Sales and Marketing
As a producer of crude oil and natural gas, Occidental competes with numerous other domestic and foreign private and government producers.
Crude oil and natural gas are commodities that are sensitive to prevailing global and, in certain cases, local conditions of supply and demand and
are sold at "spot" or contract prices or on futures markets to refiners and other market participants. Occidental competes by developing and
producing its worldwide oil and gas reserves cost-effectively and acquiring rights to explore in areas with known oil and gas deposits. Occidental
also competes by increasing production through enhanced oil recovery projects in mature and underdeveloped fields and making strategic
acquisitions. Occidental focuses on operations in its core areas of the United States, the Middle East/North Africa and Latin America.
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General
OxyChem manufactures and markets basic chemicals, vinyls and performance chemicals. For additional information regarding Occidental’s
chemical segment, see the information under the caption “Chemical Segment” in the MD&A section of this report.
Products and Properties
OxyChem owns and operates chemical manufacturing plants at 23 sites in the United States and 3 sites internationally. OxyChem
permanently shut down its mercaptans facility in Baytown, Texas in the fourth quarter of 2006 and its polyvinyl chloride (PVC) facility in Alberta,
Canada in the first quarter of 2006. OxyChem produces the following chemical products:
Principal Products Major Uses Annual Capacity (a) Location
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Chlorine Chlorovinyl chain and water
treatment
– 3.7 million tons (b) –Alabama, Kansas, Louisiana, New
York and Texas
– 0.3 million tons (c) –Brazil and Chile
Caustic Soda Pulp, paper and aluminum production – 3.9 million tons (b) –Kansas, Louisiana, New York, and
Texas
– 0.4 million tons (c) –Brazil and Chile
Chlorinated organics Silicones, paint stripping,
pharmaceuticals and refrigerants
–0.9 billion pounds –Louisiana and Kansas
Potassium chemicals Glass, fertilizers, cleaning products
and rubber
–0.3 million tons –Alabama
Ethylene dichloride (EDC) Raw material for vinyl chloride
monomer (VCM)
–2.1 billion pounds –Louisiana
– 0.3 billion pounds (c) –Brazil
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VCM Precursor for PVC – 6.2 billion pounds (b) –Texas
PVC Piping, insulation, flooring, medical
and automotive products and
packaging
– 3.7 billion pounds (b) –Kentucky, New Jersey and Texas
–0.6 billion pounds –Canada
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Chlorinated isocyanurates Swimming pool sanitation and
disinfecting products
–131 million pounds –Illinois and Louisiana
Resorcinol Tire manufacture, wood adhesives
and flame retardant synergist
–50 million pounds –Pennsylvania
Sodium silicates Soaps, detergents and paint pigments –0.7 million tons –Georgia, Ohio, Illinois, New Jersey,
Texas and Alabama
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For information on capital expenditures, see the information under the heading "Capital Expenditures" in the MD&A section of this report.
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Occidental employed 8,886 people at December 31, 2006, 6,711 of whom were located in the United States. Occidental employed 4,429 people
in oil and gas operations and 3,160 people in chemical operations. An additional 1,297 people were employed in administrative and headquarters
functions. Approximately 900 United States-based employees and 250 foreign-based employees are represented by labor unions.
Occidental has a long-standing policy to provide fair and equal employment opportunities to all people without regard to race, color, religion,
ethnicity, gender, national origin, disability, age, sexual orientation, veteran status or any other legally impermissible factor. Occidental maintains
diversity and outreach programs.
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