Vicki Hollub
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Vicki Hollub’s first years as CEO of
Occidental Petroleum
were marked by a controversial megadeal. In 2019, she closed on the purchase of Anadarko and its choice West Texas shale deposits, beating out
Chevron
.
But critics said she overpaid, including Carl
Icahn
,
who launched an activist campaign. Then, Covid briefly crashed the oil market.
Now, oil has recovered, Icahn has cashed out, and Warren Buffett, whose
Berkshire Hathaway
helped finance the Anadarko deal with 8% preferred shares, has been raising his common-share stake. Hollub’s laser focus on maximizing cash flow from Oxy’s new assets has allowed the company to begin paying off its preferred shares, and the common has nearly tripled in value in three years.
Hollub’s next big plan involves turning oil production green. Step one: build the world’s largest facility for capturing carbon dioxide from the air, and sell credits to polluters. Two: pump the CO2 into old shale wells, store it, and squeeze out more oil.
“You’re not leaving as much oil in the ground, which means you could get away with not developing some of the oil that’s in real pristine areas,” Hollub tells Barron’s.
Other oil CEOs, she predicts, will soon come around to doing the same.
Write to Jack Hough at [email protected]
Source: https://www.barrons.com/articles/occidental-petroleum-ceo-vikki-hollub-559c9177?siteid=yhoof2&yptr=yahoo