Occidental Petroleum announced today it would separate its California business, creating a new independent, publicly traded company. The new firm will be the largest natural gas producer and oil and gas mineral acreage holder in the state, with operations in Los Angeles, San Joaquin, Ventura and Sacramento. Oxy said in a statement it would appoint a management team in the third quarter of this year and complete the spin-off by early 2015. Oxy’s California business had pre-tax earnings of about $1.5 billion last year.
Oxy’s other E&P operations, as well as its midstream, marketing and chemical units, will be based in Houston. The company said it would reduce its commodity trading activity in order to focus on its core businesses.
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