Occidental Puts CrownRock Expansion on Hold, Targets Debt Cut
(Reuters) — Occidental Petroleum on Thursday said it will focus on cutting debt and catching up with promised production goals before an eagerly anticipated expansion of its cash distribution program.
The U.S. oil producer posted better-than-expected second quarter results on Wednesday, largely due to strong production in Colorado, lower operating costs and onetime strong midstream earnings, which sent shares up 1.54% in afternoon trading.
But the company failed to deliver the expected 170,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) from recently acquired assets. Its $12 billion acquisition of producer CrownRock pushed debt levels up, forcing Occidental to put plans to increase its cash distribution program on hold.
The strategy has sent share prices to a "much lower (level) than we believe it should be," Chief Executive Vicki Hollub said during a call with analysts to discuss results. But the company is ahead of schedule to repay the debt and expand returns to investors, she said.
Occidental now needs to deliver on its promised debt reduction and asset sale goals before it can catch up with capital returns delivered by peers, UBS oil analyst Josh Silverstein said in a note.
The company said it plans to cut debt by $3.1 billion by the third quarter, or about 70% of its near-term debt reduction commitment.
Production goals from CrownRock assets will take longer than expected due to weather events and other operational downtime that led to a production rate 14,000 barrels short of the target, Occidental's president for U.S. onshore resources Richard Jackson told analysts.
Occidental had little visibility on CrownRock's production plans and is now adjusting its plans. The company will focus on cutting costs, rather than expanding production beyond the target, he said.
Third-quarter production is expected to increase by about 140,000 boepd to 1.39 million boepd.
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