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Occidental Q3 Earnings Expose Fallacy of Big Oil Fear Mongering

Reports this week show that oil giant Occidental Petroleum brought in higher than anticipated earnings in the third quarter -- once again proving that the industry's fear mongering about Presiden

WASHINGTON
Reports this week show that oil giant Occidental Petroleum brought in higher than anticipated earnings in the third quarter -- once again proving that the industry's fear mongering about President Biden's policies is all smoke and mirrors, and that for the third quarter in a row, Big Oil is raking in record profits for their executives even as they claim to struggle.
Occidental Petroleum's CEO, Vicki Hollub, boasted that high oil and gas prices have yielded more money than the oil giant has seen in at least two decades.
"Occidental's record earnings this quarter prove that despite the industry's aggressive fear mongering, oil and gas companies are sitting pretty -- and bringing in banner profits for the executives in their c-suites," said Kyle Herrig, president of Accountable.US. "Rich oil CEOs can complain all they want, but the facts don't lie. It's time lawmakers start putting the nation's lands and the interests of the American people above the oil industry's bottom line."
The earnings announcement follows assurances from Hollub earlier this year that the company's land leasing prospects -- and their accompanying profits -- were solid. During Occidental's 2021 first quarter earnings call, Hollub assured investors that President Biden's public land leasing pause wouldn't affect the company's profits.
The results this quarter prove Hollub was right -- but that has little influence on the industry's fear mongering efforts. Despite her Q1 assurances, Hollub still warned of a potential "production impact" and job losses as a result of the president's policies, calling any additional limits on land leases an "extreme measure."
Occidental is only one of several major Big Oil companies that have attempted to paint their industry as suffering as a result of Biden's efforts to protect public lands despite their 2021 profits still soaring.

Accountable.US is a nonpartisan watchdog that exposes corruption in public life and holds government officials and corporate special interests accountable by bringing their influence and misconduct to light. In doing so, we make way for policies that advance the interests of all Americans, not just the rich and powerful.