Occidental Petroleum leaves the Permian basin for a Houston boardroom as crude prices slide

Occidental Petroleum flew from Midland, Texas to Houston on June 17, a short hop between its producing heart and its executive offices. The company's Embraer ERJ-175 departed Midland International Air and Space Port at 5:00 p.m. local time and landed at Bush Intercontinental 61 minutes later.

The same week, West Texas Intermediate crude plunged roughly $13 amid reports that the United States and Iran are moving toward a memorandum of understanding that could reopen the Strait of Hormuz, per Al Jazeera and Bloomberg reporting. For Occidental Petroleum, a large independent producer with Permian-weighted output, the slide tests management's ability to keep generating cash flow and paying down debt in a lower-price environment. The company reported repaying $7.1 billion in principal debt through May 5, per an Alphastreet analysis, and maintains an EV/EBITDA multiple well below peers even as oil hovers near $80.

The flight from Midland — where Occidental Petroleum runs substantial oil-field operations — to Houston follows a pattern of regular shuttling between field offices and corporate headquarters. In the prior two days, the ERJ-175 worked a round trip between Houston and Midland, and another company jet flew from Bangor, Maine, back to Houston, suggesting a shift of focus from the executive retreat season to the quarterly briefing room.