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Occidental explores $20 bln-plus sale of Western Midstream, sources state

Occidental Petroleum is exploring a sale of Western Midstream Partners, a U.S. natural gasfocused pipeline operator that has a market price of close to $20 billion, including financial obligation, according to people knowledgeable about the matter.

The divestment would assist Occidental, which is backed by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, slash the $18.5. billion debt pile it has built up since of acquisitions.

Occidental tattooed a deal in December to get oil and gas. manufacturer CrownRock for $12 billion, an acquisition which would. add even more borrowing, 4 years after its $54 billion purchase. of peer Anadarko Petroleum.

Western Midstream shares closed 5.7% higher at $30.81 on the. news, their highest surface since July 2019. Occidental shares. dropped 1.6% to $59.56, along with broad decreases amongst energy. producers.

Occidental owns 49% of Western Midstream and controls the. company's operations by also owning its general partner. Western. Midstream is structured as a tax-advantaged master limited. collaboration, and a general partner is its controlling entity.

JPMorgan Chase is recommending Occidental on how to. extract the most worth from its ownership of Western Midstream,. the sources added.

Western Midstream will likely bring in interest from the majority of. its major peers, consisting of Enterprise Products Partners,. Williams Companies and Kinder Morgan, the. sources said. It could also appeal to personal equity companies and. infrastructure funds.

The sources cautioned no offer was guaranteed and spoke on. condition of anonymity to go over private considerations. Occidental last week declared its objective of reducing its financial obligation to. listed below $15 billion, while saying divesting land it does not require. in the Permian basin would depend on finishing its CrownRock. offer.

Western Midstream said in a declaration it understood. Occidental's interest in offering possessions and could not supply. further information, directing questions to Occidental. It added. that Western Midstream itself was not running a sale process.

A representative for Occidental decreased to comment.

JPMorgan decreased to comment. Spokespeople for Enterprise. Products, Williams Companies and Kinder Morgan either declined. to comment or did not instantly respond to requests for. comment.

Western Midstream has around 16,000 miles of pipelines in. its network, in addition to processing, treatment and other. facilities, with operations predominantly in the Delaware. portion of the Permian basin in Texas and New Mexico, along with. the Denver-Julesburg basin in Colorado.

The Houston-based business was formed by Anadarko in 2007. When, Occidental set up Western Midstream as a standalone company. it took control of Anadarko late in 2019.

Dealmaking in the pipeline sector has been picking up as. some business seek to cut costs while others seek more access. at scale to appealing oil and gas producing areas, including. the Permian basin, in addition to export centers on the U.S. Gulf. Coast.

In 2015, ONEOK purchased Magellan Midstream for $18.8. billion including financial obligation, while Energy Transfer took over. Crestwood Equity Partners for $7.1 billion consisting of debt at the. start of November.

Last month, Sunoco agreed to acquire NuStar Energy. for $7.3 billion consisting of debt.

(source: Reuters)