Fitch cuts Occidental

Fitch Ratings said it downgraded the long-term issuer default rating of Occidental Petroleum Corp. to BB+ from BBB+ and placed its ratings on rating watch negative. Fitch also withdrew the long-term IDRs for Anadarko Petroleum Corp., Anadarko Holding Co. and Kerr-McGee Corp., following the completion of debt exchanges of all outstanding Anadarko debt for equivalent Occidental debt.

The downgrade’s main driver is the sharp drop in oil prices, which resulted in weaker near-term leverage metrics and cash flow protections for Occidental. The oil price collapse has significantly increased execution risk around remaining planned asset sales needed to pay off pending maturities taken out to finance the Anadarko acquisition, the agency said.

The RWN reflects the heightened event risk the company may look to address its capital structure to alleviate current constraints if low oil prices persist.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.