Occidental Petroleum Corp. on Wednesday said that its fourth-quarter net income rose 29 percent as the company produced more oil and sold it for higher prices.

The Los Angeles company reported net income of $1.2 billion ($1.49 per share), compared with $938 million ($1.15) a year earlier. Revenue rose 16 percent to $5.06 billion.

Excluding special items, Occidental said it earned $1.58 per share. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected per-share profit of $1.56 on revenue of $5.13 billion.

During the quarter, Occidental produced 753,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the form of crude oil and natural gas. It raised oil prices an average of 11.5 percent to $79.96 per barrel from a year earlier, but lowered natural gas prices 5 percent to an average of $4.13 per thousand cubic feet.

Chief Executive Ray Irani, who is retiring in May, trumpeted the company’s full-year results, which included a 55 percent rise in net income to $4.5 billion. “Our oil and gas production increased 5 percent on a year-over-year basis to a daily average of 748,000 BOE, the largest in Oxy’s history,” said Irani in a statement.

Shares closed down 21 cents, or less than a percent, to $96.94 on the New York Stock Exchange.