It may be considerably smaller in scale than the recent ExxonMobil/Pioneer and Chevron/Hess megadeals, but Occidental Petroleum’s announcement that it will acquire privately held CrownRock LP for $12 billion is remarkable in its own right. Among other things, the deal will give Delaware Basin-focused Oxy a strong foothold in the absolute core of the Midland Basin, supercharge its free cash flow and — despite increasing Oxy’s debt in the short term — provide a pathway for the company to return much more money to shareholders via dividends and stock buybacks in the years ahead. In today’s RBN blog, we examine Oxy’s planned acquisition of CrownRock and what it means for the acquiring company and the Permian itself.