Eog Resources Inc

Occidental Petroleum Corp. and EOG Resources Inc. said they exchanged oil and natural-gas fields in the U.S. to cut costs and boost production. Los Angeles-based Occidental, the ninth-biggest U.S. oil company, received fields in California that produce about 12 million cubic feet of gas a day, and mineral rights to more than 700,000 acres of land in the state. It also got properties in the western Gulf of Mexico that produce 26 million cubic feet of gas equivalent a day.

Occidental Petroleum Corp. and EOG Resources Inc. said they exchanged oil and natural-gas fields in the U.S. to cut costs and boost production. Los Angeles-based Occidental, the ninth-biggest U.S. oil company, received fields in California that produce about 12 million cubic feet of gas a day, and mineral rights to more than 700,000 acres of land in the state. It also got properties in the western Gulf of Mexico that produce 26 million cubic feet of gas equivalent a day.

Farooq Tareen holds a master's degree in petroleum engineering, and while he has long dreamed of working in the oil industry, he's also afraid of the business. Sure, the money's good and it's exciting to hunt for elusive crude, but what about when everything goes bust? Tareen remembers how hard it was to find work in the oil patch when he finished his studies at the University of Oklahoma in 1999.

In the first of a series of oil industry reports likely to rekindle consumer charges of profiteering, Occidental Petroleum Corp. said Wednesday that its profit surged to a record high. Occidental, the Westwood-based oil and chemical producer, said the operating profit for its second quarter rose to $343 million compared with only $4 million in the year-ago period. Sales nearly doubled from $1.6 billion to $3.1 billion.