to employee pension plans of $1.0 billion, $1.6 billion and $1.4 billion in 2005, 2004 and 2003, respectively. Cash provided by investing activities included proceeds from asset sales of $2.7 billion in 2005, $3.7 billion in 2004 and $1.1 billion in 2003.

     Cash provided by operating activities and asset sales during 2005 was sufficient to fund the company’s $8.7 billion capital and exploratory program, pay $3.8 billion of dividends to stockholders, repay approximately $970 million in long-term debt and repurchase $3 billion of common stock. Partial consideration for the acquisition of Unocal in August 2005 also included $7.5 billion in cash. Unocal balances of cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities at the acquisition date totaled $1.6 billion.

     Dividends The company paid dividends of approximately $3.8 billion in 2005, $3.2 billion in 2004 and $3 billion in 2003. In April 2005, the company increased its quarterly common stock dividend by 12.5 percent to 45 cents per share.

     Debt, capital lease and minority interest obligations Total debt and capital lease balances were $12.9 billion at December 31, 2005, up from $11.3 billion at year-end 2004. The 2005 year-end balance included approximately $2.2 billion of debt and capital lease obligations assumed with the acquisition of Unocal. The company also had minority interest obligations of $200 million, up from $172 million at December 31, 2004.

     The company’s debt and capital lease obligations due within one year, consisting primarily of commercial paper and the current portion of long-term debt, totaled $5.6 billion at December 31, 2005, unchanged from December 31, 2004. Of these amounts, $4.9 billion and $4.7 billion were reclassified to long-term at the end of each period, respectively. At year-end 2005, settlement of these obligations was not expected to require the use of working capital in 2006, as the company had the intent and the ability, as evidenced by committed credit facilities, to refinance them on a long-term basis. The company’s practice has been to continually refinance its commercial paper, maintaining levels it believes appropriate and economic.

     At year-end 2005, the company had $4.9 billion in committed credit facilities with various major banks, which permitted the refinancing of short-term obligations on a long-term basis. These facilities support commercial paper borrowings and also can be used for general corporate purposes. The company’s practice has been to continually replace expiring commitments with new commitments on substantially the same terms, maintaining levels management believes appropriate. Any borrowings under the facilities would be unsecured indebtedness at interest rates based on the London Interbank Offered Rate or an average of base lending rates published by specified banks and on terms reflecting the company’s strong credit rating. No borrowings were outstanding under these facilities at December 31, 2005. In addition, the company has three existing effective “shelf” registration statements on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission that together would permit additional registered debt offerings up to an