By Tess Stynes
Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY) named company veteran Todd A.
Stevens as the future chief executive of the California oil-and-gas
operations it plans to spin off into a separate, publicly traded
company.
Occidental--which has been divesting assets to better focus its
operations--also named William E. Albrecht as executive
chairman.
Occidental Chief Executive Stephen I. Chazen said "both have
played an important part in building and managing our California
operations for over 15 years."
Mr. Stevens, 47, is a 19-year veteran of Occidental and most
recently served as vice president of corporate development,
starting in August 2012.
Mr. Albrecht, 62, has been president, Occidental Oil & Gas -
Americas, and vice president of Occidental Petroleum since 2011. He
joined the company in 2007 as vice president of its California
operations.
When Occidental unveiled the spinoff plans earlier this year,
the company said the California business earned $1.5 billion in
pretax income last year.
Write to Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@wsj.com
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