Occidental Petroleum Paid Chairman Less Last Year

Occidental Petroleum Corp. denied Chairman Ray Irani, 64, an annual cash bonus under terms of an employment agreement that bases his pay on the company’s financial performance.

According to a proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Los Angeles-based oil and chemical company also cut Irani’s stock bonus for 1998. Occidental’s share price dropped more than 42% in 1998.

Irani has been Occidental’s chairman and chief executive since 1990.

The value of the stock bonus Irani received in 1998 was $479,992, down from $2.34 million the year before. Irani got stock options on 325,000 shares in 1998, compared with options on 1 million shares in 1997.

Irani and Occidental’s other top executives met their individual goals for 1998, according to a report with the proxy. However, financial goals for items such as earnings were not achieved. Occidental lost $35 million before gains and charges in the fourth quarter as oversupply cut profit margins on chemicals and oil prices plunged.

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In Other Energy News . . .

Williams to buy Union Texas: Williams Cos., the largest U.S. transporter of natural gas, said it will buy Union Texas Petrochemicals from Los Angeles-based Atlantic Richfield to expand its southern U.S. pipeline network for moving butane and propane. Terms were not disclosed.

Calpine-Bechtel Project: Calpine Corp., a U.S. power-plant developer, and a unit of Bechtel Group Inc. plan to build a $300-million, 600-megawatt power plant in San Jose to meet the region’s growing demand for electricity. The natural-gas plant is expected to be completed by 2002.