April 22, 2019 -- Monday Morning Market

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site. Do not make any investment, financial, job, travel, or relationship decisions based on what you read here or think you may have read here.

Bakken: reporting some nice wells this morning.

WatchList: looks great.

JAG: see disclaimer above. One of my favorite to watch on the watchlist. [Again, as stated earlier, the watch list is simply that -- equities I enjoy watching, but do not invest in many of them.]

Measles: continues to surge. Was once eradicated in the US. Does public health matter any more? Last time the numbers were this high? Twenty-five years ago.

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Something To Think About

I never thought I would say this after its performance in the Bakken, but Occidental Petroleum (OXY) looks exciting. I thought about that last week -- was a little late in acting -- but this morning's news suggests those [investors and traders, in this case] who bought OXY last week might have done well.

From its website:

For investors: what's the most interesting thing about the chart above? Hint: look at the arrow. Despite a huge -- and, I mean, huge -- drop in net income in 2015, the company raised its dividend.

What I'm most interested in with regard to OXY is "heavy oil."

So, let's check.

OXY says it has operations in three areas: the US, the Mideast, and Latin America. In fact, its production from Latin America is so small one can ignore LA. OXY gets two-thirds of its production from the US and one-third from the Mideast. A nice mix.

Now, the US --

Permian unconventional:

• 1.4 million net acres
• 17-yr inventory with less than a $50 WTI breakeven
• 20 of top 50 wells in the Permian
• drilled less than 5% of hz wells in the Permian but has 40% of the top 50 wells
• unconventional EOR a commercial success

Permian conventional:

• 1.1 million net acres

Other:

• "sector-leading dividend, with consecutive growth"
• OxyChem and Midstream generated highest earnings over 20 years
• $3.0 billion cash balance
• Occidental no longer owns any shares of California Resources common stock
• President and CEO: Vicki Hollub.

Vicki Hollub (born 1960) is an American businesswoman and mineral engineer. She has been the president and CEO of Occidental Petroleum since April 2016, when she became the first woman heading a major American oil company.

In 2005, Hollub became involved in leading Occidental's expansion in the Permian Basin  in West Texas and southeastern New Mexico. She was manager of operations for Occidental's Permian business from 2009 until 2011, before being promoted to president and general manager from 2011 until 2012.

Under Hollub, Occidental cut production costs in response to falling crude prices but decided not to lay off employees.

The company focused on existing core operations in the Middle East, the United States, and Colombia in Latin America, while continuing to sell low-yield fields in Iraq, Libya, Yemen, North Dakota, Colorado, Kansas, and Oklahoma.

Hollub placed "particular emphasis" on developing the Permian Basin in the southern United States, which had been a consistent driver of profits.

Half of Occidental's output was coming from the Permian Basin by July 2017, while the other half came from Qatar, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Colombia.

At that time, Forbes wrote that Hollub's focus on high-producing oil fields had made Occidental "leaner" and "poised to gusher cash for the next half-century."