Occidental Petroleum appoints worldwide business development senior VP

Oscar Brown was recently named the senior vice president of worldwide business development at Occidental Petroleum Corporation.

Brown, who has more than two decades of experience in energy banking, is responsible for the Houston-based oil and gas exploration and production company's global business development functions. Occidental Petroleum is one of the largest oil and gas companies in the U.S., based on equity market capitalization and includes operations in the Middle East and Latin America.

Brown was previously the managing director and co-head of Americas Energy Investment Banking at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. In the past, Brown has worked at Credit Suisse First Boston, Lehman Brothers and Barclays Capital. He graduated with a bachelor of business administration degree in finance and marketing from the University of Texas.

"Our strong balance sheet provides us with the flexibility to invest in opportunities to further strengthen our core areas in the Permian Basin, Middle East and Colombia, as well as our chemical and midstream segments," Occidental Petroleum President and CEO Vicki Hollub said. "I welcome Oscar to our leadership team and look forward to working with him on this strategic effort."