Oxy in Good Position to Fend Off Raiders

Regarding “Hammer Says Oxy Won’t Prevent a Hostile Takeover” (May 22), the headline makes it incorrectly appear that Occidental would not prevent a hostile takeover effort.

Because of Occidental’s strong financial position and the loyalty of the stockholders, whose interests are well taken care of by the mangagement, it is not necessary that we take extraordinary action to position our company to defend itself against a hostile takeover.

With almost $1 billion in working capital and available, but unused, credit commitments of almost $2 billion and the strong managment team we have in place, Occidental is in an excellent position to vigorously rebuff any raider.

The headline on the story would lead a reader to believe that Occidental would not resist such an attempt, when the exact opposite is true. As I have said many times, and as my comments on Fred Hartley of Unocal (in the story) indicate, Occidental would fight, and win, any hostile effort to take it over, just as it did several years ago when Standard Oil of Indiana made its unccessful attempt.

ARMAND HAMMER

Chairman, Occidental Petroleum, Los Angeles