The acquisition of Anadarko Petroleum completed last August continues to burden Occidental's balance sheet, "significantly compromising its financial flexibility to confront the collapse in oil prices," said Andrew Brooks, vice president with Moody's Investors Service, in a statement on March 18. As a result, Moody's downgraded Occidental's debt rating to "junk" status. Despite being the largest oil and gas deal in the U.S. of the past decade, Moody's cited the stress imposed on Occidental's credit metrics by its purchase of Anadarko Petroleum to be approximately $40 billion in acquisition-related debt. The plunge in oil prices has also added to the company's woes, with Occidental last week announcing plans to slash its dividend and implement further cost-cutting measures. Reuters contributed to this report.