HOUSTON, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- California Resources Corp., a spin-off of Occidental Petroleum Corp., starts trading Monday as an independent entity, the parent company announced.
"We spent more than 15 years building a California company, and we expect it to provide significant value to California Resources Corporation stockholders," Stephen Chazen, Occidental's president and chief executive officer, said in a Monday statement.
Occidental Petroleum Corp., known commonly by its stock symbol, Oxy, announced plans in October to spin off its California business into a separate entity. Trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol CRC, Oxy said the new independent oil and gas exploration company will focus on "high-growth, high-return" assets that exist entirely within California.
California last year ranked third in the nation in terms of oil production, beyond Texas and North Dakota, respectively. Oxy, which has headquarters in Houston, had been active in some of California's premier shale oil basins and opposition to the controversial drilling practice known as fracking in the state has grown.
Local fracking measures on the November ballot in California received mixed results. Gov. Jerry Brown last year signed legislation regulating the controversial drilling process.
Oxy said in its third quarter statement average U.S. oil production increased by 20,000 barrels to 282,000 barrels, driven in large part by California reserves.
Oxy retains approximately 19.9 percent ownership interest in California Resources for a period of up to 18 months. Chazen said the offshoot gives the parent company the ability to concentrate on "areas where we have key competitive advantages."
