Asset manager BlackRock cuts stake in Occidental Petroleum

Reuters · 02/05/2021 15:45
Asset manager BlackRock cuts stake in Occidental Petroleum

- BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, cut its stake in U.S. oil and gas producer Occidental Petroleum Corp OXY.N by about 9% last year, according to a securities filing on Friday.

The firm beneficially owned 53.69 million Occidental shares at the end of December, down 5 million shares from a year earlier. The stake was valued at $1.22 billion on Friday.

BlackRock BLK.N did not immediately reply to a request for comment. The firm has urged companies to prepare their businesses to live in a low-carbon environment by the middle of this century. nL8N2K13PW

Occidental Petroleum has embraced carbon emissions reductions and laid out a plan to achieve net-zero emissions by 2040. A company representative did not immediately reply to a request for comment on BlackRock's share sales. nL1N2HW1ZV

Occidental Petroleum's market value sank 60% last year as oil demand and prices tumbled and debt from its 2019 purchase of Anadarko Petroleum drove losses. It lost $14.36 billion in the first nine months of 2020. Full-year results are set to be released on Feb. 16.


(Reporting by Gary McWilliams
Editing by Paul Simao)

((Gary.McWilliams@thomsonreuters.com; +1 469-691-7668;))