OREANDA-NEWS. August 07, 2013. Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) announced net income for the second quarter of 2013 of USD1.3 billion (USD 1.64 per diluted share), compared with USD 1.3 billion (USD 1.64 per diluted share) for the second quarter of 2012.

The second quarter of 2013 included non-core items amounting to a net after-tax benefit of USD 46 million. After excluding the non-core items, core income was slightly less than USD 1.3 billion (USD 1.58 per diluted share) for the second quarter of 2013, compared with USD 1.3 billion (USD 1.64 per diluted share) for the second quarter of 2012.

In announcing the results, Stephen I. Chazen, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, "Our total company production of 772,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the second quarter of 2013 was 6,000 barrels higher than production in the second quarter of 2012 and 9,000 barrels higher than production in the first quarter of 2013. While our Qatar production rebounded to its prior level after the first quarter planned turnarounds, insurgent activity in Colombia and severe storms in West Texas, as well as planned turnarounds in the Permian, held back our overall production. Excluding the effects of the storms, our domestic production is continuing to deliver the results we expected.

"We continue to see positive results from our focused drilling program and improved domestic operational efficiencies. Year-to-date, we have achieved a 21-percent reduction in our drilling costs relative to total year 2012. Domestic oil and gas operating expenses were USD 14.17 per BOE for the first half of 2013, a 19 percent improvement from total year 2012 rates. Total company operating expenses were USD13.66 per BOE for the first six months of 2013, a 9-percent improvement from year-end 2012 rates. Our year-to-date capital spending is below the planned levels in part as a result of the early success of the cost-saving efforts. Our focus on operational efficiency has helped us generate USD 6.4 billion of cash flow from operations before working capital changes and increase our cash balance to USD 3.1 billion from the year-end level of USD 1.6 billion."