Vicki Hollub, from the Mississippi platforms to the top of Occidental
Vicki Hollub pasó de las plataformas de Mississippi a la dirección ejecutiva de Occidental Petroleum.
She started as a field engineer in 1981 and retired four decades later as the first woman to lead a major American oil company.
Vicki Hollub closed a career of more than forty years at Occidental Petroleum when she stepped down from the company’s leadership in 2026. Her path began far from corporate offices: she trained as an engineer and took her first steps on oil platforms in Mississippi, before rising through almost every operational level of the company until reaching the executive leadership.
A technical education and a start at the wellsite
Hollub graduated from the University of Alabama in 1981 with a degree in mining engineering, with a focus on fuels and mineral resources. That same year, she began working at Cities Service, an integrated oil and gas company that was acquired by Occidental in 1982. She was thus incorporated into the company where she would develop her entire career.
During that first stage, she held technical and management positions in different geographies. She worked in operations in the United States, Russia, Venezuela and Ecuador, a rotation that gave her direct knowledge of fields in very different contexts and that would later become an asset when she had to make decisions about the company’s global portfolio.
The rise through the Permian basin
The turning point came in 2005, when she began leading Occidental’s expansion in the Permian basin, in western Texas and southeastern New Mexico. Between 2009 and 2011, she was operations manager for that business; she later became president and general manager of the unit. In 2012, she became executive vice president of operations in California and, in October 2013, added the leadership of Oxy Oil and Gas operations in the United States.
The rise continued without pause. Between 2014 and 2015, she was executive vice president of Occidental and president of Oxy Oil & Gas for the Americas, with responsibility for operations in Latin America and global exploration. In May 2015, the board chose her to succeed then chief executive Stephen Chazen, a decision the company itself based on her track record of growing the oil and gas business. In December of that year, she was appointed global president and chief operating officer, and joined the board.
Executive leadership and industry recognition
Hollub became president and chief executive officer in April 2016, with responsibility for operations, strategy and financial administration. The appointment made her the first woman to lead a major American oil company, and that same year Fortune magazine placed her at number 32 on its list of the most powerful women in business.
Her profile extended beyond Occidental. She has served on the board of Lockheed Martin since 2018, as well as those of Khalifa University of Science and Technology, in Abu Dhabi, and the American Petroleum Institute. She also served as U.S. co-chair of the United States-Colombia Business Council and is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers. In 2023, she ranked 50th on Forbes’ list of the world’s most powerful women and 38th on Fortune’s list.
The final years added distinctions of a technical nature. In 2024, she was elected a member of the United States National Academy of Engineering for her leadership in energy company management and her advocacy of carbon management solutions. In 2025, she received the WPC Energy Dewhurst Award. Hollub will remain linked to Occidental as a member of its board after the leadership transition.
