April 14, 1999

Dear Occidental Shareholder or Proxy Manager:
 

Three of my colleagues were kidnapped in Colombia, South America, on February 26.  They were murdered a week later, apparently by revolutionary guerillas.  You may have read about it, as it made the front page of many major newspapers including The New York Times.

All three were in Colombia to assist the people of the U'wa tribe in their fight against Occidental Petroleum.  The company has plans to drill on what the U'wa consider their sacred land, and the U'wa have threatened to commit mass suicide if the drilling occurs.  The suicide threat has been investigated and verified by journalists, Harvard, the Organization of American States (OAS), governments, and humanitarian and human rights organizations.

If Occidental drills without full U'wa agreement, and members of the tribe do, in fact, commit mass suicide, the potential repercussions could be seriously damaging to the value of Occidental.  Such an event would instantly make front-page headlines around the world, and become an international cause celebre.  Commentators would blame the company, and Occidental would almost certainly become a pariah of the investment community - unable to attract capital to their deals, and unable to retain existing investors.  It is my understanding that it was precisely this grave risk that caused Occidental's former partner in the deal - Royal Dutch Shell - to back out of the project in 1998.

Terence Freitas, my colleague who lost his life at 24, worked closely with me in developing the following resolution, now included in the 1999 Occidental Petroleum proxy materials:

WHEREAS: the company is concerned that elders of the U'wa tribe in the cloudforest/rainforest of Colombia, South America, have threatened to walk off a 1400 foot cliff in a mass suicide of Occidental drills on their sacred land.

RESOLVED:  The Board of Occidental Petroleum shall hire a major independent business analysis firm to write and distribute a risk analysis report addressing the potential impact  on long term profitability, including any future decline in stock price, which may occur due to the threat of mass suicide.

Fund managers are alerted to a potential loss of value.  Managers thus put on notice have a clear fiduciary duty to vote in favor.

We invite you to join us and other shareholders in publicly supporting this resolution.  There will be a media outreach campaign to the business and mainstream press.  Last year, a full-page ad was placed in the New York Times, and the issue was covered in the Los Angeles Times and on CNN.

Please contact me personally at (202)463-8600 if you would like to be involved in the publicity campaign or have any questions about this resolution.

Enclosures