Occidental Petroleum's ERJ-175 lands near Carlsbad as oil markets digest Hormuz reopening

Occidental Petroleum's ERJ-175, tail N170XY, was tracked flying from Midland International Air and Space Port to Cavern City Air Terminal on June 25, 2026 — a 20-minute hop that bypasses any major commercial route. The aircraft, part of Occidental Petroleum's three-plane fleet including a G650ER and G280, had shuttled from Houston to Midland earlier the same day.

If aboard, Occidental Petroleum executives would land in Carlsbad the same week Brent crude fell below its pre-war closing price of $72.48 a barrel, per the Japan Times, as flows through the Strait of Hormuz ramp up following progress on a U.S.-Iran peace deal. The reopening, as CNN Business reported this week, threatens to add roughly 93 million barrels of stranded crude to a market already awash with supply from the IEA's record reserves release and surging Brazilian and Venezuelan output. For Occidental Petroleum's vast Permian Basin operations — the company's core asset — falling oil prices test the economics of every barrel brought to surface.

The flight pattern leading into this trip shows a busy week: the ERJ-175 moved from Houston's Bush Intercontinental to Midland on June 25, then on to Carlsbad, a small airport that serves the Delaware Basin, where Occidental Petroleum holds some of its highest-margin acreage. Should executives have been aboard, the visit would coincide with a momentous shift in the global oil landscape — one that may determine whether Occidental Petroleum's Permian portfolio remains Berkshire Hathaway's largest energy bet or becomes a cautionary tale.