Following the purchase of Anadarko Petroleum, Occidental Petroleum (OXY  ) is seeking to spin off mineral and oil fields in the western United States. This is because it has a higher debt load after its acquisitions, which has investors calling for an optimization in costs. Occidental has fallen in share price on the news that it is seeking to reduce its debt load. On Wednesday, November 6, Occidental traded at above $41 a share but in light of recent news, it now trades at about $38.50 a share. Occidental has about $40 billion in debt right now, but it has raised roughly $10 billion so far by selling off oil fields in Africa and optimizing costs elsewhere.

Overall, Occidental's share price has taken a significant tumble since it announced its acquisition of Anadarko. In total, the share price has fallen roughly 40% among concerns over the company's amount of outstanding debt. The oil and mineral fields in Wyoming and Colorado that Occidental looks to sell are estimated to be worth somewhere between $500 and $700 million. Some of the properties in Wyoming and Colorado are operated by Occidental while others are being used by other companies that lease the land from Occidental. This company is the largest private landowner in the state of Wyoming, with significant operations in the Powder River basin.

In the last earnings report they posted, Occidental reported a $912 million quarterly loss. This came from short term losses in light of the $38 billion acquisition of Anadarko Petroleum. Even though the combined oil company expects oil production to increase by 2% in the year 2020, this is a relatively slow pace of growth and is not helping Occidental at a time where it needs to boost its share price. However, the company predicts that its oil production will increase in 2021 with a 5% increase from its 2020 totals. Occidental has focused on cutting costs and reducing its debt to return itself to greater financial stability.