Occidental Petroleum’s ambitious $12 billion acquisition of shale producer CrownRock has hit a roadblock, as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is delaying its approval, pushing the deal’s closing date to the latter half of this year. This unexpected hiccup has prompted the oil giant to postpone planned sales of $4.5-$6 billion in assets and suspend potential changes in the company’s buyback program, according to CEO Vicki Hollub.

“Some of our teams felt like they’d [FTC] asked for everything,” Hollub remarked during the post-earnings conference call. She further declared Occidental’s openness to selling non-core Permian Basin assets but emphasized that this would only be considered after the completion of the CrownRock acquisition.

The company’s better-than-expected Q4 results had initially been anticipated to overshadow the delayed CrownRock closing and its flat production outlook. However, contrary to expectations, Occidental’s stock surged by 4.9% on Thursday, marking its best performance in six weeks.