Oil and gas producer Occidental Petroleum Corp said it would spin off its California assets into a separately traded company, creating the state's largest natural gas producer.Occidental shares were up about 3 percent at $94.60 in trading before the bell on Friday.The California unit has been deemed to be a drag on the company due to elusive growth in oil production. It earned about $1.5 billion on a pre-tax basis in 2013.Analysts at Credit Suisse valued the unit at around $22 billion in October.
Occidental Petroleum Corporation (Occidental) conducts its operations through various subsidiaries and affiliates. Shares of OXY traded higher by 0.09% or $0.08/share to $92.27. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $77.21 and as high as $99.42. On average, 3844620 shares of OXY exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 3718298.
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