Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY) is reportedly exploring a sale of its stake in Western Midstream Partners (NYSE: WES). The oil giant owns nearly half of the master limited partnership (MLP). A sale would enable it to quickly repay the debt it will incur by acquiring CrownRock.

Here's a look at why Occidental wants to cash in on its stake in the high-yielding MLP (it currently yields 7.5%) and which companies might be interested in the midstream specialist.

Occidental recently made a big splash, agreeing to acquire CrownRock in a $12 billion deal. It primarily plans to use debt to fund the transaction (it will issue $9.1 billion of new debt and assume CrownRock's existing $1.2 billion of debt). That deal structure is a major deviation from the acquisition blueprints of Chevron and Exxon, which are using stock to fund their megadeals.

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Source Fool.com