WEBspired wrote:"Would love to know their (Chevron's) level of interest in OXY!"

Given that Chevron lost a bidding war with OXY for Anadarko's assets, one can only assume the answer to this question is a resounding YES. Remember that in addition to Anadarko's Permian Basin assets, OXY also picked up a sizable position in the Denver Julesberg (DJ) Basin where Chevron just announced the planned acquisition of PDCE.

It would seem the combination of OXY and Anadarko assets now seems even more attractive to Chevron.

Bill Smead, who holds OXY shares (8.5% position) through his Value fund, recently posted the following commentary:

"Warren Buffett made clear he's not going to buy Occidental Petroleum (OXY), but we believe it wouldn't break his heart if one of the other contestants bought his huge stake in OXY. He raved about the company, and you can tell how much he likes their CEO, Vicky Hollub. So here is our list of contestants in the oil consolidation dating game and a list of potential acquisition candidates.

smeadcap.com - No dating game for buffett

Bottom line, more consolidation coming in the Permian and DJ basins. It will involve some of the bigger fish, including Chevron, Exxon and OXY swallowing smaller fish. Is OXY too big to swallow? Doubt it.

As Smead's table illustrates valuations in this space are still quite reasonable. Would seem easier to envision where these oil companies will be in ten years compared to the latest list of high priced AI darlings.