Vicki Hollub

Vicki Hollub became President and CEO of Occidental Petroleum in 2016, making history as the first woman to lead a major U.S. oil and gas company. A chemical engineer by training, Hollub spent over 30 years at Occidental, working her way up through field operations in Texas, Russia, Venezuela, and Ecuador before reaching the C-suite. Her deep operational background — she literally knows how to run drilling rigs — distinguishes her from many energy CEOs who came up through finance or strategy. Hollub's defining moment was the hostile $38 billion acquisition of Anadarko Petroleum in 2019, a deal that initially sent OXY's stock plummeting as investors feared the debt burden. She outbid Chevron by partnering with Berkshire Hathaway, which provided $10 billion in preferred stock financing. The acquisition made Occidental the dominant operator in the Permian Basin — America's most prolific oil field — and vindicated Hollub's thesis as oil prices recovered and the combined company's free cash flow surged. Occidental aggressively paid down debt, and Buffett continued buying, eventually accumulating over 28% of OXY's common shares. Hollub has also positioned Occidental as a pioneer in carbon capture and storage (CCS), investing in the Stratos direct air capture facility in Texas — the world's largest. Her dual strategy of being both a major oil producer and a carbon management company is unique in the energy sector and reflects her conviction that the energy transition will require both hydrocarbon production and carbon removal technologies. Her decisions on production levels, debt management, carbon capture investment pace, and capital returns are the key drivers of OXY's stock price.