Oxy’s Plans to Drill on Tribal Land Protested

With drums, indigenous songs and signs, about 50 supporters of a semi-nomadic people from the remote cloud forest of northern Colombia demanded Friday that Occidental Petroleum Corp. abandon plans to drill in the tribe’s homeland.

This miniature drama has played outside Oxy’s annual stockholders’ meeting in Santa Monica for the last three years. L.A.-based Oxy has a deal to drill for petroleum in an area claimed by the U’wa, a 5,000-member tribe that has vowed to commit mass suicide if oil ever flows from their ancestral lands.

But the confrontation took on added poignancy this year because of the recent slayings, allegedly by Colombian rebels, of three Americans who were working with the U’wa. And the activists contend there is new urgency because they believe Occidental is moving forward with drilling plans.

Americans Terence Freitas, Ingrid Washinawatok and Laheenae Gay were kidnapped and killed in March as they were ending a visit with the U’wa.

Oxy, which has disputed the extent of the U’wa lands, said it has relinquished 75% of the disputed territory but will continue to explore in the remaining portion. No wells have been drilled yet.

Shareholders voted down a non-management resolution directing Oxy to pay for an analysis of the impact of the suicide threat on profitability and the stock price. But the resolution did garner about 13% of the shares eligible to vote.

Oxy directors opposed the resolution, saying the company “has been a model corporate citizen in Colombia for over 30 years.”

The U’wa demands were not the only controversy at the meeting, which began with an upbeat summation of operations despite one of the worst years in recent oil industry history. “We made substantial progress by remaining focused on our long-term strategy to strengthen Occidental,” said Chairman Ray Irani. He called 1998 and 1999 “pivotal transition years” in achieving sustained growth.

Several shareholders grumbled about the price of Occidental’s stock--one man noted that at recent prices the stock was trading within pennies of the $15.13 per share that he paid in 1972 when he began buying Oxy stock. Oxy shares fell 75 cents to $20.19 on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday.

Another shareholder even demanded that Irani resign. Irani declined to oblige.