Canadian Occidental to become Nexen

Sept. 29, 2000
Canadian Occidental Petroleum Ltd., Calgary, says it will change its name to Nexen Inc., subject to shareholder approval, Nov. 2. The company, known as CanOxy in the Canadian oil patch, chose the name after an extensive testing process.


Canadian Occidental Petroleum Ltd., Calgary, says it will change its name to Nexen Inc., subject to shareholder approval, Nov. 2. The company, known as CanOxy in the Canadian oil patch, chose the name after an extensive testing process.

President and CEO Victor Zaleschuk said the name signifies new energy and has passed all international trademarking and linguistic tests. The name Nexen is already in widespread use in other fields but CanOxy spokeman Kevin Finn said the company is confident there are no other energy companies with the same name in the main jurisdictions where it operates.

The cost of the name change is estimated at $10 million (Can.).

CanOxy was required to make a name change after it became a Canadian independent following a separation last spring from parent Occidental Petroleum Corp., which retained the name.

The company�s main operations are in Western Canada, Yemen, Colombia, Nigeria, Brazil, Ecuador, and Indonesia.

The name was chosen with the help of Parallel Strategies Inc., a Calgary-based corporate communications firm, and Interbrand Tudhope, an international branding company based in New York City.

CanOxy and the Ontario Teachers� Pension Plan Board bought back Occidental�s 29% interest in the Canadian company last March for $1.2 billion (Can.).