By Josh Beckerman
Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY) has increased its stock-buyback
authorization for the second time this year.
The oil and gas company said Thursday that it increased its
repurchase authorization by 60 million shares to 76 million.
Occidental shares were up 1% to $96.17 in recent late trading. The
company also increased its buyback authorization in February.
Occidental also said its board approved the spinoff of
California Resources Corp., a transaction expected to take place
Nov. 30.
Occidental shareholders will receive 0.4 shares of California
Resources for each Occidental share they own.
Occidental said in February that it would split its California
operations into a separate, publicly traded company as part of an
ongoing strategic review. Occidental said the California business
had $1.5 billion in pretax income in 2013.
Also on Thursday, Occidental declared its regular quarterly
dividend of 72 cents.
Write to Josh Beckerman at josh.beckerman@wsj.com
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