Oxy takes $6.6 billion impairment on reduced-value assets
From WorldOil.com
OUSTON (Bloomberg) –Occidental Petroleum booked a total impairment of $6.6 billion for the second quarter after the collapse in energy prices reduced the value of several of its assets.
The shares fell as much as 3.3% in after-market trading in New York.
Almost every large oil and gas company has either taken or warned of massive writedowns after energy markets collapsed in the second quarter, eroding the value of their reserves. With uncertainty over when or if petroleum demand will fully recover and savage spending cuts, the industry is effectively saying large portions of its oil in the ground may never be economically produced.
Occidental is struggling with a $40 billion debt burden after its ill-timed purchase of Anadarko Petroleum Corp. last year. The company is currently considering selling assets and refinancing to pay down the $5 billion of debt due next year.
The company is in talks to sell operations in Africa and the Middle East to Indonesia’s state-owned PT Pertamina for about $4.5 billion, people familiar with the matter said last month. It’s also running a process to sell land and minerals in Wyoming.
