Occidental Petroleum restores major portion of CEO pay as oil prices rise

[February 12, 2021]  (Reuters) - Occidental Petroleum Corp said on Thursday it had restored a major portion of its chief executive officer's base salary, nearly a year after its management and employees were to forced to take a pay cut to battle one of the industry's worst downturns.

CEO V​icki ​Hollub's salary was restored to $1 million, effective Jan. 1, 2021, with the move coming at a time when U.S. crude prices have touched a year high and are near $60 per barrel.

​Hollub's salary of $1.35 million was slashed by 81% in March, while the base salary of executives was capped at $250,000. In July, however, the company approved a partial restoration by capping salaries at $500,000 limit.

Rival Pioneer Natural Resources reinstated its CEO's pay in November.

While oil and gas workers are still among the highest paid in the world, salaries in the sector are closely tied to oil prices, which plunged last year as coronavirus-induced lockdowns slashed demand for fuel.

Houston, Texas-based Occidental is expected to report a loss of 59 cents per share, when it reports its fourth-quarter results on Tuesday, according to Refinitiv IBES data.

(Reporting by Rithika Krishna in Bengaluru)

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