Oxy Shuts Down 95 Percent of Rigs in West Texas

HOUSTON, TX – Oil Giant Occidental Petroleum announced on Wednesday that it will be shutting down 95 percent of the rigs in West Texas after reporting major losses. 

According to Bloomberg, on August 12, Oxy has decided to have only one single rig operational in the West Texas and New Mexico for remainder of 2020. 

This announcement came after Oxy stocks dropped 8% to $15.16. As of August 12 at 2:00 p.m. Oxy is now at $14.99. 

Last year Oxy purchased Anadarko for $57 Billion. At the time Oxy had 12 rigs in operation and then added Anadarko's 10 rigs which made it the largest oil company in the Permian Basin. 

Now the company is expecting to report major losses by the end of the year. Oxy has now cut its capital budget to $2.5 billion but that it $400 million less than the company needs to keep production going.