Occidental tops Q3 estimates as production surges; outlines cautious 2025 plans

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) +1.6% in Wednesday’s trading after comfortably beating Q3 adjusted earnings expectations, as production reached new highs following the closing of its $12B acquisition of CrownRock.

Q3 net income fell to $964M, or $0.98/share, from $1.15B, or $1.20/share, in the year-earlier quarter, while revenues fell 3% Y/Y to $7.15B.

Q3 global production jumped 15% Y/Y to 1.41M boe/day, including record quarterly U.S. production of nearly 1.19M boe/day, led by 729K boe/day in the Permian Basin and 136K boe/day in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

The former CrownRock assets contributed a net 109K boe/day to the total, which topped management’s projections by 5K boe/day.

“The integration of CrownRock is off to a great start in terms of personnel and operations, and we have made significant progress in our deleveraging efforts, achieving nearly 90% of our short-term debt reduction target,” CEO Vicki Hollub said.

Looking to 2025, Occidental (OXY) said in the earnings conference call that it is targeting production growth in the mid-single digits, with capital spending largely in line with this year’s levels, as reported by Oil & Gas Journal.

Occidental (OXY) indicated the acquired CrownRock acreage will continue to be worked by five rigs but spending plans for many of the company’s other domestic operations remain flexible and may be a little smaller than 2024 levels.

Hollub reportedly said on the call that volatile prices and surplus production in global oil markets are driving the company’s cautious plans for 2025, and even though some areas of the world are trimming production, too many wild cards remain for Occidental (OXY) to get aggressive.