Oxy buys Phibro

Oil exploration company Occidental Petroleum Corp. acquired Westport-based Phibro, the former energy trading desk of Citigroup Inc.

Los Angeles-based Oxy paid $250 million for the unit, which has averaged $371 million in annual earnings the past five years. Oxy indicated it would leave Phibro”™s operations intact and would make a “substantial” investment in the entity, without disclosing further details.

Phibro generated controversy this year after CEO Andrew Hall received a $100 million bonus from Citigroup in accordance with a contract he had signed, even as Citi reeled during the financial crisis.

Oxy had a $682 million profit in the second quarter on $3.7 billion in revenue, down by nearly half from a year earlier.

Jeffrey Eisenberg resigned as CEO of Fairfield-based Future Now Group Inc. and the company appointed William Schloth as interim CEO.

 

Schloth was formerly chief financial officer of Future Now, which was created in 2006 to stake mineral deposit claims in British Columbia before abandoning the claims the following year. Currently running a small search-engine optimization business, Future Now reported a $1.7 million net loss in the first nine months of its 2009 fiscal year ending June 30, and has yet to report its fiscal year-end results.