Reminder, Occidental founder, A. Hammer, was quite close pals with Al Gore, Sr. And Armand's Dad, was a founder of the CPUSA! <URL: http://www.chuckmorse.com/gore_communistconnection.html >
On Thu, 24 Apr 2003 19:21:23 -0400, Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:
> [this one worth signing - curious to see if this attracts as many names
> as the Cuba ones]
>
>
> PLEASE READ and POST WIDELY: This is Quick to do and such petitions
> have been influential in the past.
>
> AMINA LAWAL SET TO BE STONED ON 3RD JUNE 2003
Human Rights Groups Sue Petroleum Co.
By PAUL CHAVEZ Associated Press Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP)--International human rights groups filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against Occidental Petroleum and one of its security contractors over a 1998 bombing that killed 17 civilians in a Colombian village.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court on behalf of Luis Alberto Galvis Mujica, whose mother, sister and cousin were killed Dec. 13, 1998, when a cluster bomb was dropped on the village of Santo Domingo during a Colombia military raid.
The lawsuit names Los Angeles-based Occidental and Rockledge, Fla.-based Airscan Inc., an aviation security firm, as defendants and accuses the companies of helping conduct the raid.
Employees of Airscan, which provided aerial surveillance for Occidental's Cano Limon oil pipeline, accompanied the Colombian air force during the bombing and helped pinpoint ground targets, the lawsuit alleged. Occidental was accused of helping Airscan and the military plan the attack against rebels who were allegedly sabotaging the pipeline. No rebels were struck, the lawsuit said.
Occidental issued a statement in which it denied any role in the bombing and said it will ``vigorously contest'' the allegations.
``Occidental has not and does not provide lethal aid to Colombia's armed forces,'' the statement said.
A lawyer for Airscan did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.
The Colombian government, in a report that was not released publicly, faulted a Colombian helicopter pilot and a crewman for dropping the bomb that killed the Santo Domingo civilians, a source close to the investigation told The Associated Press in Bogota last October.
The case is being brought by the International Labor Rights Fund and the Center for International Human Rights at the Northwestern University Law School.
The Alien Tort Claims Act allows a foreign national to sue in U.S. courts for damages when international laws have been violated.
AP-NY-04-24-03 2127EDT
Occidental Petroleum Profit Rises 13-Fold Tue April 22, 2003 08:58 AM ET NEW YORK (Reuters) - Integrated oil company Occidental Petroleum Corp. OXY.N on Tuesday said its first-quarter profit rose 13-fold, boosted by significantly higher oil and gas prices and increased production.
Los Angeles-based Occidental reported net income of $325 million, or 86 cents a share, up from $25 million, or 7 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter.
Core earnings, excluding a debt retirement charge and one-time items, soared to $433 million, or $1.14 a share, its highest in six quarters. The result exceeded the average analyst forecast of $1.11 a share compiled by Thomson First Call.
Earnings from continuing operations were $393 million, or $1.03 a share, reflecting the negative impact of new accounting rules for retired assets and for physical gas-delivery contracts.
Revenue for the quarter rose to $2.37 billion from $1.52 billion from the prior-year quarter. Upstream oil and gas production earnings more than doubled to $727 million from $306 million in the year-ago period.
Meanwhile the chemicals business, a perennial laggard, swung to a $35 million profit, compared with a $31 million loss last year. Occidental realized higher prices for petrovinyl chloride and chlorine, offset in part by higher feedstock costs. The year-ago period included a loss on the sale of its Equistar chemicals unit and severance charges.
Daily average oil and gas production rose by 1.3 percent to a record high 532,000 barrels of oil-equivalent (boe), driven by higher oil output in the United States and Ecuador and increased gas production in Pakistan.
However U.S. gas production fell sharply as did Middle East oil output.
Capital expenditures during the first quarter jumped 17 percent to $298 million from last year.
Shares of Occidental closed in Monday trade on the New York Stock Exchange at $30.60. During the quarter, they rose 5 percent, outperforming the Standard & Poor's Integrated Oil and Gas index .GSPOILI , which rose less than 1 percent in the same period.