Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY) recently closed its needle-moving acquisition of CrownRock. It paid $12 billion for the fellow oil company, which will significantly enhance its position in the prolific Permian Basin. The acquisition should also boost its annual free cash flow by about $1 billion.

However, the oil stock took on a boatload of debt to close the deal (it issued $9.1 billion of new debt while also assuming $1.2 billion of CrownRock's existing debt). Because of that, the company's near-term focus is on paying down its debt as fast as possible. It recently took another step toward that goal by selling some of its interest in master limited partnership (MLP) Western Midstream Partners (NYSE: WES). That move should come as no surprise and might not be the last time it taps into this source of value.

Occidental plans to repay at least $4.5 billion of debt within 12 months of closing its CrownRock deal via its increased free cash flow and the proceeds from asset sales. The oil company aims to raise $4.5 billion to $6 billion from selling assets over the coming years to help repay debt.

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Source Fool.com