(Reuters) -Occidental Petroleum said on Thursday it would sell its petrochemical division to Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway for $9.7 billion, as the U.S. oil and gas producer looks to pare debt.

The sale of the OxyChem unit, which produces chemicals used for treating swimming pools and vinyl products used for water supply piping and medical supplies, adds to a series of divestitures planned by the Houston, Texas-based company in recent years to raise cash. Its shares rose 2.3% in premarket trading.

If the all-cash deal closes, it would be the biggest for Berkshire, Occidental’s largest shareholder, since its $11.6 billion purchase of insurance firm Alleghany Corporation in 2022 and expand its chemical holdings beyond Lubrizol.

Occidental, one of the top producers of basic chemicals

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