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BUSINESS COMBINATIONS
 3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2026
Business Combination, Asset Acquisition, Transaction between Entities under Common Control, and Joint Venture Formation [Abstract]  
BUSINESS COMBINATIONS BUSINESS COMBINATION
Berry Merger

On September 14, 2025, we entered into an agreement to combine with Berry in the Berry Merger. Berry was an independent upstream energy company that explored for and produced oil and natural gas in California, primarily in the San Joaquin basin, and in the Uinta basin in Utah. Berry also provided well servicing and abandonment services, which is included in our oil and natural gas segment. The Berry Merger added high quality, oil-weighted, mostly conventional proved developed reserves and sustainable cash flows to our operations.

Pursuant to the Berry Merger Agreement, on the effective date of the merger, December 18, 2025, we issued 5,572,115 shares of our common stock, which was calculated as 0.0718 shares of our common stock for each outstanding share of Berry stock as of December 17, 2025. As of December 18, 2025, and immediately following the closing of the Berry Merger, the former Berry stockholders owned 6% of CRC. We paid cash or issued replacement equity awards in settlement of certain Berry restricted and performance units. Upon closing of the Berry Merger, Berry's outstanding debt was repaid and the underlying credit agreements were terminated. We repaid a significant portion of this indebtedness with proceeds from our 2034 Senior Notes. For more information on the 2034 Senior Notes, refer to Note 4 Debt.

At the date of this filing, our assessment of the fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed remains preliminary. Certain data necessary to complete the purchase price allocation is not yet available, and includes, but is not limited to, final appraisals of Berry's property, plant and equipment, evaluation of Berry's materials and supplies inventory, valuation of certain assets and liabilities, determination of Berry's asset retirement obligations and preparation of tax returns that will provide underlying tax basis of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed.

We expect to complete the purchase price allocation during the 12-month period subsequent to the Berry Merger closing date and adjustments may be made to the provisional amounts recorded as of March 31, 2026.

We measured assets and liabilities at acquisition date fair value on a nonrecurring basis.

The following table summarizes the consideration transferred:
Merger Consideration
(in millions, except share and per share data)
Shares of common stock
5,572,115 
Common stock per share fair value on December 17, 2025
$45.49 
   Fair value of share consideration
$253 
Settlement of Berry debt
449 
Stock-based compensation
7 
   Total consideration
$709 
The following table presents the preliminary purchase price allocation to the identifiable assets acquired and the liabilities assumed based on their estimated fair values as of the closing date of the Berry Merger:

Preliminary Purchase Price as of December 31, 2025
Adjustments
Preliminary Purchase Price as of March 31, 2026
(in millions)(in millions)(in millions)
Assets Acquired
Cash
$12 $— $12 
Accounts receivable
87 1 88 
Inventories
6 — 6 
Other current assets
29 — 29 
Property, plant and equipment659 (3)656 
Fair value of derivative contracts
109 — 109 
Deferred tax asset
121 1 122 
Other noncurrent assets
4 — 4 
Total Assets Acquired1,027 (1)1,026 
Liabilities Assumed
Accounts payable$(62)$— $(62)
Accrued liabilities(50)1 (49)
Asset retirement obligations
(151)— (151)
Fair value of derivative contracts
(21)— (21)
Other long-term liabilities(34)— (34)
Total Liabilities Assumed(318)1 (317)
Net Assets Acquired$709 $— $709 

Supplemental Unaudited Pro Forma Financial Information

The following supplemental unaudited pro forma financial information presents the total operating revenue, net income and earnings per share for the three months ended March 31, 2025 as if the Berry Merger had occurred on January 1, 2025.

Three Months Ended March 31,
2025
(in millions, except per share amounts)
Total operating revenue
$1,087 
Net income$6 
EPS
Basic$0.06 
Diluted$0.06 
The pro forma information is presented for illustration purposes only and is not necessarily indicative of the operating results that would have occurred had the Berry Merger been completed on January 1, 2025, nor is it necessarily indicative of future operating results of the combined entity. The pro forma financial information for the three months ended March 31, 2025 is a result of combining our three months statements of operations with Berry's pre-merger results for the three months ended March 31, 2025 and the pro forma adjustments include estimates and assumptions based on currently available information. The pro forma results do not reflect any cost savings anticipated as a result of the Berry Merger and exclude the impact of any severance. The pro forma results include adjustments to depreciation, depletion and amortization (DD&A) based on the purchase price allocated to property, plant, and equipment and the estimated useful lives as well as adjustments to interest and accretion expense. We also included pro forma adjustments for certain compensation-related costs and transaction costs we incurred related to the Berry Merger. Management believes the estimates and assumptions are reasonable, and the relative effects of the Berry Merger are properly reflected. Future results may vary significantly from the results reflected in the following pro forma information.