Occidental Explores Sale of Western Midstream Stake

(Bloomberg) -- Occidental Petroleum Corp. is exploring the sale of Western Midstream Partners as it looks to pay down debt, according to a Reuters report.

Western Midstream Partners is Occidental’s US natural gas-focused pipeline operator that has a market value of more than $18 billion, Reuters reports, citing people familiar with the matter.

This comes amid a flurry of deal activity in the oil and gas space. Occidental said in December it inked a deal to buy Texas shale driller CrownRock LP for $10.8 billion.

Oil executives are facing pressure from investors to keep buybacks and dividends flowing even as the North American shale sector matures and growth slows. With many of the best production sites already tapped, companies flush with cash from the post-pandemic run-up in oil prices are increasingly buying rivals to secure new places to drill.

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