Occidental to divest some upstream assets for $1.2 billion

By Tanay Dhumal

(Reuters) -Occidental Petroleum said on Tuesday that it had struck two deals in the current quarter to divest some upstream assets to undisclosed buyers for a total of $1.2 billion, although its current-quarter production forecast fell short of expectations.

The transactions, which include Rockies non-operated assets and Permian Basin assets that are not part of the company's near-term development plan, are expected to close by the end of the current quarter.

The company said it planned to use the proceeds from the transactions to reduce debt, which rose after it closed the $12 billion acquisition of privately held CrownRock in August last year.

The company also reported an adjusted profit of 80 cents per share in the fourth quarter, beating analysts' average estimate of 70 cents per share, according to data compiled by LSEG, helped by an 18.6% rise in production at 1.46 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (MMboepd) from the previous year.

Occidental also raised its quarterly dividend by 9% to 24 cents per share.

However, the oil and gas firm's current-quarter production forecast of between 1.37 and 1.41 MMboepd fell short of Wall Street expectations of 1.43 MMboepd.

ROTH analysts said in a note that they expect a slight negative reaction on Wednesday, hurt by "the slowing of its chemicals business, its lower long-term production growth rate vs. peers, and its strategy of selling assets in a weaker environment."

Occidental also reported a fourth-quarter loss of $297 million on Tuesday, compared with a profit of $1.03 billion from a year earlier, as it was hurt by environmental liability and lower prices.

Shares were down 1.4% at $48.14 in extended trading.

The company expects to spend between $7.4 billion and $7.6 billion in the current year, up about 10% from last year at mid-point.

(Reporting by Tanay Dhumal in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)