Occidental Petroleum says that at year-end 2008, the company's preliminary worldwide proved reserves, on a consolidated basis, totaled 2.98 billion barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) compared to 2.87 billion BOE at the end of 2007.

In 2008, the company's consolidated subsidiaries had proved reserve additions from all sources, before the effect of price-related revisions, of 463 million BOE, compared to production of 221 million BOE, for a production replacement ratio of 210 percent. At the end of 2008, Occidental's consolidated reserves-to-production ratio, assuming production remained at the 2008 level, was 13.5 years.

Excluding purchases of proved reserves and the effect of price revisions, the company added 253 million BOE of proved reserves on a consolidated basis, of which improved recovery provided 98 percent and extensions and discoveries provided 9 percent, partially offset by non-price-related negative revisions of 7 percent.

These additions were partially offset by negative revisions of 127 million BOE that were attributable to the difference between prices of oil and gas at year-end 2007 and year-end 2008. Negative domestic price revisions were partially offset by positive price revisions in the Middle East/North Africa, as a result of the impact of Production Sharing Contracts.

Occidental's costs for exploration and development activities were $4.4 billion. Additionally, Occidental incurred $3.5 billion in property acquisition costs. All of the acquisitions were domestic, mainly in the Rocky Mountains and the Permian Basin.

In 2008, proved developed reserves were 74 percent of total proved reserves. For the three-year period 2006 through 2008, Occidental's consolidated proved reserve additions totaled 1.1 billion BOE, and total production equaled 630 million BOE, for a reserve replacement ratio of 173 percent

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