Occidental Petroleum's Growth Days Are in the Rearview Mirror

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY) had ambitious growth plans when it launched its bidding war for Anadarko Petroleum last year. When it finally sealed that deal, the company expected to grow its combined output by 5% per year, which would have been an impressive pace given the size of its operations. It also reaffirmed its commitment to pay a growing dividend, which it had increased for 17 straight years at the time of the deal.

However, crashing crude prices have forced the oil company to shift from growth to treading water. Instead of expanding production and the dividend, the company has had to trim them down to pay back the debt used to acquire Anadarko. With a significant amount still to address, it might not grow either for quite some time, if ever again, which was one of the takeaways on its second-quarter conference call.

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Source Fool.com