Occidental Petroleum Corporation (commonly known as Oxy) is a major American integrated energy company founded in 1920 and incorporated in 1986. It engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids (NGLs), primarily in the United States (Permian Basin, DJ Basin, Gulf of Mexico), the Middle East, and North Africa.
Business Segments
Oxy operates through three main segments:
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Oil and Gas – Exploration, development, and production of crude oil, condensate, NGLs, and natural gas across the U.S. Permian and DJ basins, offshore Gulf of Mexico, and MENA
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Midstream and Marketing – Purchase, transport, storage, and marketing of oil, NGLs, CO₂, and power; also invests in related entities
Overall Positioning
Oxy is broadly described as a top-5 US oil producer and a top-3 Permian Basin liquids operator, with its 1.22 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) placing it firmly in that bracket. It is however clearly below the supermajor tier (ExxonMobil ~$500B market cap, Chevron ~$270B) — Oxy's market cap hovers around $40–45 billion, reflecting its smaller scale and higher debt load following the Anadarko and CrownRock acquisitions.
Competitive Strengths in the Permian
Within the Permian Basin specifically — the most productive oil region in the US — Oxy is a dominant operator, rivalling ExxonMobil in acreage quality and well productivity. Its technical expertise in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) using CO₂ injection, built over decades, gives it a cost and recovery advantage that few peers can match, and directly underpins its carbon capture strategy via STRATOS.
Shareholding Structure
Oxy is a publicly traded company with institutional investors holding approximately 51% of shares outstanding as of May 15, 2026. The top five shareholders collectively control around 53% of the company.
Notable Shareholder Notes: Berkshire Hathaway is the single largest shareholder. Berkshire first entered Oxy in Q3 2019, exited in Q2 2020, then re-entered aggressively in Q1 2022 and has been buying continuously since. By December 2023 the stake stood at ~27.7%, reaching a peak of ~28.5% in mid-2024, and settling at ~26.64% as of December 31, 2025. Notably, Berkshire also agreed in October 2025 to acquire Oxy's OxyChem chemical division for $9.7 billion — a deal completed on January 2, 2026, making Berkshire both Oxy's largest shareholder and the new owner of its former chemicals arm.
