Occidental Petroleum lands in Midland the week of its CEO transition

Occidental Petroleum flew from Cavern City Air Terminal in Carlsbad, New Mexico to Midland International Air and Space Port on May 14, a 24-minute hop across the New Mexico-Texas line. The Embraer ERJ-175, tail number N170XY, is part of the company's three-aircraft fleet and typically operates as an employee shuttle between Houston and Occidental's West Texas oil-field hubs.

The same week, Occidental Petroleum's board formally set June 1 as the retirement date for CEO Vicki Hollub, with Chief Operating Officer Richard Jackson succeeding her, per a May 1 announcement on GlobeNewswire. Hollub, who has led the company since 2016, oversaw the $38 billion Anadarko acquisition and the $10.8 billion CrownRock deal. The Midland flight arrives as the company's Q1 2026 earnings, reported on May 6, showed production of 1.426 million barrels of oil equivalent per day and a raised midstream guidance midpoint, according to Yahoo Finance.

This shuttle run is routine: the ERJ-175 has flown between Houston and Midland at least four times in the past three days. Midland is the operational heart of Occidental Petroleum's Permian Basin assets, where Jackson, the incoming CEO, has pledged to focus on organic improvement and cost execution. The plane likely carried executives or engineers, not the departing CEO — but the timing aligns with a handover that has already begun.