OXY, §1A diff (2016 → 2017)

ITEM 1A RISK FACTORS Volatile global and local commodity pricing strongly affect Occidental’s results of operations. Occidental's financial results correlate closely to the prices it obtains for its products, particularly oil and, to a lesser extent, natural gas and NGLs, and its chemical products. Prices for crude oil, natural gas and NGLs fluctuate widely. Historically, the markets for crude oil, natural gas, NGLs and refined products have been volatile and may continue to be volatile in the future. If the prices of oil, natural gas, or NGLs continue to be volatile, reverse their recent increases or decline, Occidental's operations, financial condition, cash flows and level of expenditures may be materially and adversely affected. Prices are set by global and local market forces which are not in Occidental's control. These factors include, among others: Ø Worldwide and domestic supplies of, and demand for, crude oil, natural gas, NGLs and refined products. Ø The cost of exploring for, developing, producing, refining and marketing crude oil, natural gas, NGLs and refined products. Ø Operational impacts such as production disruptions, technological advances and regional market conditions, including available transportation capacity and infrastructure constraints in producing areas. Ø Changes in weather patterns and climate. Ø The impacts of the members of OPEC and other non-OPEC member-producing nations that may agree to and maintain production levels. Ø The worldwide military and political environment, uncertainty or instability resulting from an escalation or outbreak of armed hostilities or acts of terrorism in the United States, or elsewhere. Ø The price and availability of alternative and competing fuels. Ø Domestic and foreign governmental regulations and taxes. Ø Additional or increased nationalization and expropriation activities by foreign governments. Ø General economic conditions worldwide. Ø Volatility in commodity futures markets. The long-term effects of these and other conditions on the prices of crude oil, natural gas, NGLs and refined products are uncertain. Generally, Occidental's practice is to remain exposed to market prices of commodities; however, management may elect to hedge the price risk of crude oil, natural gas and NGLs in the future. The prices obtained for Occidental’s chemical products correlate strongly to the health of the United States and global economies, as well as chemical industry expansion and contraction cycles. Occidental also depends on feedstocks and energy to produce chemicals, which are commodities subject to significant price fluctuations. Occidental may experience delays, cost overruns, losses or other unrealized expectations in development efforts and exploration activities. Occidental bears the risks of equipment failures, construction delays, escalating costs or competition for services, materials, supplies or labor, property or border disputes, disappointing drilling results or reservoir performance, title problems and other associated risks that may affect its ability to profitably grow production, replace reserves and achieve its targeted returns. Exploration is inherently risky and is subject to delays, misinterpretation of geologic or engineering data, unexpected geologic conditions or finding reserves of disappointing quality or quantity, which may result in significant losses. Governmental actions and political instability may affect Occidental’s results of operations. Occidental’s businesses are subject to the decisions of many federal, state, local and foreign governments and political interests. As a result, Occidental faces risks of: Ø New or amended laws and regulations, or new or different applications or interpretations of existing laws and regulations, including those related to drilling, manufacturing or production processes (including well stimulation techniques such as hydraulic fracturing and acidization), labor and employment, taxes, royalty rates, permitted production rates, entitlements, import, export and use of raw materials, equipment or products, use or increased use of land, water and other natural resources, safety, the manufacturing of chemicals, asset integrity management, the marketing of commodities, security and environmental protection, all of which may restrict or prohibit activities of Occidental or its contractors, increase Occidental's costs or reduce demand for Occidental's products. Ø Refusal of, or delay in, the extension or grant of exploration, development or production contracts. Ø Development delays and cost overruns due to approval delays for, or denial of, drilling, construction, environmental and other permits and authorizations. In addition, Occidental has and may continue to experience adverse consequences, such as risk of loss or production limitations, because certain of its international operations are located in countries affected by political instability, nationalizations, corruption, armed conflict, terrorism, insurgency, civil unrest, security problems, labor unrest, OPEC production restrictions, equipment import restrictions and sanctions. Exposure to such risks may increase if a greater percentage of Occidental’s future oil and gas production or revenue comes from international sources. Occidental's oil and gas business operates in highly competitive environments, which affect, among other things, its ability to make acquisitions to grow production and replace reserves. Results of operations, reserves replacement and growth in oil and gas production depend, in part, on Occidental’s ability to profitably acquire additional reserves. Occidental has many competitors (including national oil companies), some of which: (i) are larger and better funded, (ii) may be willing to accept greater risks or (iii) have special competencies. Competition for reserves may make it more difficult to find attractive investment opportunities or require delay of reserve replacement efforts. In addition, during periods of low product prices, any cash conservation efforts may delay production growth and reserve replacement efforts. Occidental’s acquisition activities also carry risks that it may: (i) not fully realize anticipated benefits due to less-than-expected reserves or production or changed circumstances, such as declines in crude oil, NGL, and gas prices; (ii) bear unexpected integration costs or experience other integration difficulties; (iii) experience share price declines based on the market’s evaluation of the activity; or (iv) assume liabilities that are greater than anticipated. Occidental’s oil and gas reserves are estimates based on professional judgments and may be subject to revision. Reported oil and gas reserves are an estimate based on periodic review of reservoir characteristics and recoverability, including production decline rates, operating performance and economic feasibility at the prevailing commodity prices, assumptions concerning future crude oil and natural gas prices, future operating costs and capital expenditures, and assumed effects of regulation by governmental agencies. The procedures and methods for estimating the reserves by our internal engineers were reviewed by independent petroleum consultants; however, there are inherent uncertainties in estimating reserves. Actual production, revenues and expenditures with respect to our reserves may vary from estimates, and the variance may be material. If Occidental were required to make significant negative reserve revisions, its results of operations and stock price could be adversely affected. In addition, the discounted cash flows included in this Form 10-K should not be construed as the fair value of the reserves attributable to our properties. The estimated discounted future net cash flows from proved reserves are based on an unweighted 12-month average first-day-of-the-month prices in accordance with SEC regulations. Actual future prices and costs may differ materially from SEC regulation-compliant prices and costs used for purposes of estimating future discounted net cash flows from proved reserves. Concerns about climate change and further regulation of greenhouse gas emissions may adversely affect Occidental’s operations or results. Continuing political and social attention to the issue of climate change has resulted in both existing and pending international agreements and national, regional and local legislation and regulatory programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. These and other government actions relating to greenhouse gas emissions could require Occidental to incur increased operating and maintenance costs, such as costs to purchase and operate emissions control systems, to acquire emissions allowances or comply with new regulatory or reporting requirements, or they could promote the use of alternative sources of energy and thereby decrease demand for oil, natural gas and other products that Occidental’s businesses produce. Any such legislation or regulatory programs could also increase the cost of consuming, and thereby reduce demand for, oil, natural gas and other products produced by Occidental’s businesses. Consequently, government actions designed to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases could have an adverse effect on Occidental’s business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, increasing attention to climate change risks has resulted in an increased possibility of governmental investigations and additional private litigation against Occidental, which could increase our costs or otherwise adversely affect our business. It is difficult to predict the timing and certainty of such government actions and the ultimate effect on Occidental, which could depend on, among other things, the type and extent of greenhouse gas reductions required, the availability and price of emissions allowances or credits, the availability and price of alternative fuel sources, the energy sectors covered, and Occidental’s ability to recover the costs incurred through its operating agreements or the pricing of the company’s oil, natural gas and other products. Occidental’s businesses may experience catastrophic events. The occurrence of events such as hurricanes, floods, droughts, earthquakes or other acts of nature, well blowouts, fires, explosions, chemical releases, crude oil releases, including maritime releases and releases into navigable waters, material or mechanical failure, industrial accidents, physical attacks and other events that cause operations to cease or be curtailed may negatively affect Occidental’s businesses and the communities in which it operates. Coastal operations are particularly susceptible to disruption from extreme weather events. Third-party insurance may not provide adequate coverage or Occidental may be self-insured with respect to the related losses. Cyber-attacks could significantly affect Occidental. Cyber-attacks on businesses have escalated in recent years. Occidental relies on digital systems, related infrastructure, technologies and networks to run its business and to control and manage its oil and gas, chemicals, marketing and pipeline operations. Use of the internet, cloud services and other public networks exposes Occidental’s business and that of other third parties with whom Occidental does business to cyber-attacks that attempt to gain unauthorized access to data and systems, release confidential information, corrupt data and disrupt critical systems and operations. Even though Occidental has implemented controls and multiple layers of security to mitigate the risks of a cyber-attack that it believes are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such cyber security measures will be sufficient to prevent security breaches of its systems from occurring. Further, Occidental has no control over the comparable systems of the third parties with whom it does business. While Occidental has experienced cyber-attacks in the past, Occidental has not suffered any material losses. However, if in the future Occidental's cyber security measures are compromised or prove insufficient, the potential consequences to Occidental’s businesses and the communities in which it operates could be significant. As cyber-attacks continue to evolve in magnitude and sophistication, Occidental may be required to expend additional resources in order to continue to enhance Occidental's cyber security measures and to investigate and remediate any digital systems, related infrastructure, technologies and network security vulnerabilities. Occidental's oil and gas reserve additions may not continue at the same rate and a failure to replace reserves may negatively affect Occidental's business. Unless Occidental conducts successful exploration or development activities, acquires properties containing proved reserves, or both, proved reserves will generally decline. Management expects improved recovery, extensions and discoveries to continue as main sources for reserve additions but factors such as geology, government regulations and permits, and the effectiveness of development plans are partially or fully outside management's control and could cause results to differ materially from expectations. The ultimate impact of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (Tax Reform) may differ from Occidental's estimates. Tax Reform was enacted in December 2017 and made significant changes to the U.S. federal income tax law, including lowering the federal corporate income tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent, repealing the corporate alternative minimum tax (AMT) and mandating a deemed repatriation of accumulated earnings and profits of U.S.-owned foreign corporations. Occidental recorded the effects of the changes in the tax law for which the accounting was complete. In accordance with the guidance from the SEC, Occidental recorded a provisional estimate for the federal and state tax associated with the mandatory deemed repatriation and the resulting impact to the net federal deferred tax liability. With regards to the global intangible low-taxed income (GILTI) and base erosion anti-abuse tax (BEAT) provisions of the new tax law, Occidental has recorded no tax liability based on preliminary estimates. The ultimate impact of Tax Reform may differ from Occidental’s estimates due to changes in interpretations and assumptions, as well as additional regulatory guidance. Occidental will adjust provisional amounts as updated information is evaluated. Other risk factors. Additional discussion of risks and uncertainties related to price and demand, litigation, environmental matters, oil and gas reserves estimation processes, impairments, derivatives, market risks and internal controls appears under the headings: "MD&A - Oil & Gas Segment - Proved Reserves" and "- Industry Outlook," "- Chemical Segment - Industry Outlook," "- Midstream and Marketing Segment - Industry Outlook," "- Lawsuits, Claims and Contingencies," "- Environmental Liabilities and Expenditures," "- Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates," "- Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk," and "Management's Annual Assessment of and Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting." The risks described in this report are not the only risks facing Occidental and other risks, including risks deemed immaterial, may have material adverse effects. ITEM 1B