Berkshire Hathaway To Buy Occidental’s OxyChem for $9.7B

SECAUCUS, NJ (DTN) – Berkshire Hathaway will acquire Occidental Petroleum’s chemical business, OxyChem, for $9.7 billion in a transaction expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year, according to a company statement release Thursday (10/2).

The all-cash transaction will be subject to customary purchase price adjustments and marks a major divestiture for Occidental, which plans to use most of the proceeds to reduce its debt load.

Proceeds from the sale of the chemical company “will unlock 20+ years of low-cost resource runway” in oil and gas for Occidental, president and CEO Vicki Hollub said.

Occidental said it expects to allocate $6.5 billion of the proceeds towards targeting a principal debt level below $15 billion after its acquisition of CrownRock – a Permian driller it bought in August 2024 for around $12 billion.