Occidental Petroleum Corp. on Friday said that it was selling its operations in Argentina and buying oil and gas fields in Texas, part of a strategy to focus more on its U.S. assets.

The Los Angeles company said it will buy south Texas fields from Royal Dutch Shell and a private owner for a combined $3.2 billion. Separately, it will sell oil and gas operations in Argentina for $2.5 billion to Sinopec Group, China’s largest oil refiner. Both deals should be completed in the first quarter of next year.

In addition. Occidental said it will use cash and debt to increase its stake in pipeline operator Plains All American from 22 percent to 35 percent, and separately it will buy the remaining stake in the Elk Hills Power Plant to become its full owner. Both are near Bakersfield.

Chief Executive Ray Irani said his company should still be able to continue to increase production by 5 to 8 percent a year, even without the Argentine fields.

“We expect that each of these new acquisitions together with future drilling, potential exploration and consolidation opportunities in these areas, over time, will grow to over 50,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day,” Irani said in a statement.

The company also said it would increase its quarterly dividend by 21 percent to 46 cents per share starting in April

Shares were up $1.44, or 1.6 percent, to $92.51 in midday trading on the New York Stock Exchange.