Smiling: Occidental Petroleum chief executive Ray Irani
Oxy chief’s pay packet bulges
Ray Irani, chief executive of US independent Occidental Petroleum for the past two decades, received $31.4 million in total compensation in 2009, a 40% increase on the year before.
Investors in the fourth-largest US oil company will submit a nonbinding vote on executive compensation for the first time at Occidental's annual meeting on 7 May, Reuters reported.
According to a filing with US financial regulators on Friday, Irani earned a salary of $1.17 million in 2009, down 10% from the year before, but his stock awards totaled nearly $24.76 million, up by $9 million over 2008.
Shares of the Los Angeles-based company rose 36% over the course of 2009 as oil prices recovered following a dramatic drop caused by recession-weakened demand for energy.