Occidental Petroleum Leads Onshore Oil Hunt as Offshore Drilling Faces Tighter Regulation

Occidental Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: OXY ) announced yesterday (Wednesday) it was doubling the capacity estimate for a California oil field discovery as U.S. offshore drilling restrictions fuel onshore interest. The Los Angeles-based oil explorer has focused on onshore oil production for years and estimates its current discovery near Bakersfield, California holds up to 500 million barrels of oil, valuing it at more than $34 billion at current prices. " There is a lot of new interest in onshore-production potential in the U.S. and Occidental is at the forefront of that, " Brian Youngberg, an analyst with Edward Jones & Co., told Bloomberg . Occidental, the fourth largest U.S. oil and gas producer, made the announcement at a meeting with investors and analysts Wednesday in New York. Chief Executive Officer Ray R. Irani detailed the company's long-term strategy for profitability.