Occidental Petroleum (Oxy) has seen a rise in oil and gas production which has helped it see profits rise in Q1 2011.
Oxy's released its results for the first three months of 2011 that showed a four per cent increase in oil and gas production. In particular, the Middle East continues to be a growth region for Oxy.
CEO, Dr Ray Irani, said, "Our oil and gas production for the first quarter of 2011 increased over four per cent, as compared to the first quarter of 2010, to 730,000 barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) per day."
Oxy also replaced 150 per cent of its production in 2010, adding a total of 409 million BOE in proved reserves.
The report added that "volumes increased over four per cent, primarily in domestic gas and NGL production and Middle East/North Africa crude oil volumes," as well as stating that "the Middle East/North Africa increase included new production from Iraq and higher volumes from the Mukhaizna field in Oman."
The figures showed that first-quarter production at the company's Mukhaizna field, located at the southern end of Oman's interior, had grown 17.5 per cent from 57,000 barrels per day in 2010 to 67,000 barrels per day in 2011.
In Iraq, Oxy and its consortium partners continued expansion of production at the Zubair Field. Current gross production at the Zubair Field is approximately 280,000 BOE per day and is expected to grow over the next several years.
In early 2011, Oxy was selected by the government of Abu Dhabi to develop the Emirate's Shah Field, one of the largest natural gas fields in the Middle East. Oxy will partner with ADNOC to develop high-sulfur content reservoirs within the field. Oxy will hold a 40-per cent working interest, with ADNOC holding 60 per cent.
