OREANDA-NEWS. July 25, 2012. Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) announced the appointment of Cynthia L. Walker as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, effective August 6, 2012. Ms. Walker will assume the position from James M. Lienert, who has been Occidental’s Chief Financial Officer for the past two years. Mr. Lienert will continue with the Company as Executive Vice President – Business Support, reported the press-centre of Occidental Petroleum.

Ms. Walker, 35, has most recently served as Managing Director at Goldman, Sachs & Co., where she enjoyed a 12-year career. While at Goldman Sachs, Ms. Walker provided clients with strategic advice in high-profile energy industry transactions as a senior member of the Global Natural Resources Group located in Houston. She was also a member of the Mergers and Acquisitions Group.

Stephen I. Chazen, President and Chief Executive Officer of Occidental, noted, “We feel very fortunate that an executive of Ms. Walker’s caliber is joining the ranks of our senior management. Ms. Walker has extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions and finance at one of the world’s top global investment banking and securities firms and with a specific focus on the upstream oil and gas industry. As a result of her background in these areas, she is tailor made to serve as our CFO. I very much look forward to working with her. I also want to thank Jim for his many accomplishments and I am pleased that he will continue to contribute to the Company’s success through his leadership of our Supply Chain and Information Technology organizations.”

Ms. Walker holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting with High Honors from the University of Texas at Austin.