Occidental Petroleum flies to Midland the week after volatile Q1 earnings

Occidental Petroleum flew its Embraer ERJ-175 (tail N170XY) from Houston’s Bush Intercontinental to Midland International Air and Space Port on May 26, a 1-hour-23-minute hop into the heart of the Permian Basin. The aircraft reached 32,000 feet and a top speed of 448.5 knots before touching down at 13:15 UTC.

The same week, Occidental Petroleum is reckoning with the aftermath of its first-quarter earnings call on May 6, per the company’s own transcript [oxy.com](https://www.oxy.com/siteassets/documents/investors/quarterly-earnings/oxy1q26transcript.pdf). On that call, executives stressed a strategy of lower sustaining capital and improved decline rates via enhanced oil recovery — much of that work anchored in the Permian, where Midland serves as operational hub. Separately, a March drone strike forced the shutdown of Occidental Petroleum’s Shah gas project in the UAE, as reported by the Houston Business Journal [hoodline.com](https://hoodline.com/2026/03/houston-s-occidental-caught-in-gulf-crossfire-as-uae-gas-giant-goes-dark/), adding pressure to stabilize domestic production.

This is not an unusual pattern. Over the past week, Occidental Petroleum’s aircraft have crisscrossed between Houston, Midland, and the Carlsbad area repeatedly — including a flurry of trips on May 21 between Midland and Houston — suggesting routine Permian oversight. The company’s fleet also includes a Gulfstream G650ER (N650XY), delivered September 2023 [planelogger.com](https://www.planelogger.com/aircraft/Registration/N650XY/1119994), and a Gulfstream G280, mostly used for shorter-range executive travel. Today’s flight reads less as a crisis response and more as a boots-on-the-ground check-in.