Occidental Petroleum announces subsidiary leadership

A little more than a month after filing documents to spin off its California operations, Occidental Petroleum Corp. has named the leadership team for its proposed subsidiary.

The longtime Los Angeles company announced in February that it was moving its headquarters to Houston and would spin off its California operations and assets into a separate publicly traded company. In early June, the new subsidiary filed documents with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission with the name California Resources Corp.

Occidental Petroleum appointed Todd A. Stevens president and chief executive of California Resources, the parent company announced Thursday. Stevens, who has served as vice president of corporate development at Occidental since August 2012, is a 19-year veteran of the company.

William E. Albrecht, Occidental’s vice president since 2008 and president of Occidental Oil and Gas Americas since 2011, was named executive chairman of the board at California Resources. He joined Occidental in 2007 as vice president of California operations.

Occidental Chief Executive Stephen I. Chazen said that Stevens and Albrecht “bring proven leadership abilities and more than 50 years of combined industry experience. Both have played an important part in building and managing our California operations for over 15 years.”

California Resources said in its June SEC filings that it would continue to focus its resources on increasing oil and gas production in the state. It plans more use of modern technology and increased capital spending, the filings said.

The company is continuing to prepare for the split, according to Thursday’s announcement, including filling the board of directors. The spin-off is still subject to certain regulatory approvals and other agreements, as well as final approval by the Occidental board of directors.

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