Occidental’s $8 Billion Deal Stalled by Brotherhood Row

Occidental Petroleum Corp., seeking to raise as much as $8 billion by selling a stake in its Middle East business, said a political dispute in the region is complicating plans to sell to a single investor group.

The oil and gas producer may need to break up the assets and sell them to individual countries because political tensions have made it too complicated to win agreement for a single sale to a group made up of Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, Chief Executive Officer Steve Chazen told investors at the Howard Weil Energy Conference in New Orleans yesterday.