Relational Investors, a hedge fund, worked with CalSTRS, California's state pension fund for teachers, to fight against overgenerous executive pay at Occidental Petroleum, an oil company.

ECONOMIST: Shareholder activism

But in May 2006 Ecuador seized the fields of Occidental Petroleum, claiming that the company had violated its operating contract.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Yet mitigating the risk of default is the fact that Ecuador's ability to service its debt has improved in recent months, as high energy prices, increased taxation of the oil sector and the state's take-over of Block 15 previously run by a US company, Occidental Petroleum (Oxy), are boosting the fiscal surplus and foreign reserves.

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Occidental Petroleum, the fourth largest U.S. oil company, is another top performer, posting an impressive earnings growth rate of 45.8% and ROE of 14.7% and pays a decent dividend that yields 2%.

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V. acquired Malampaya from Occidental Petroleum Philippines, a unit of the U.S. company, in 1990, a year after Occidental discovered gas at Camago, south of Malampaya.

CNN: Up from the Ocean

Among the largest underlying components of XLE, in trading today Occidental Petroleum Corporation ( NYSE: OXY) is down about 1%, Halliburton Company ( NYSE: HAL) is off about 0.4%, and Apache Corporation ( NYSE: APA) is lower by about 0.3%.

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But in May 2006 Ecuador seized the fields of Occidental Petroleum (nyse: OXY - news - people ), claiming that the company had violated its operating contract.

FORBES: Chavistas in Quito

In the process, Apache will leapfrog Occidental Petroleum ( see recent Forbes story on Oxy) to become the fourth-biggest U.S. oil company (by production, but not market cap) after ExxonMobil, Chevron and ConocoPhillips.

FORBES: Apache Snags BP Assets For $7 Billion