BILLIONAIRE Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway acquired another 2.95 million shares in Occidental Petroleum, a regulatory filing showed, bringing his stake in the US oil producer’s common stock to nearly 29 per cent.
Berkshire disclosed in a US Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Monday (Jun 17) that it paid about US$176 million in three separate purchases of Occidental shares since Thursday.
Those acquisitions gave Berkshire about 255.3 million Occidental common shares, an about 29 per cent stake worth approximately US$15.37 billion on Monday. His purchases this month have totalled 5.5 million shares.
In August 2022, Berkshire won US regulatory approval to buy up to 50 per cent of Occidental, but Buffett has said he has no plans to acquire the Houston-based company.
Analysts and investors have said an acquisition could diversify Berkshire’s energy portfolio, which includes several utilities, electricity distributors and renewable power projects.
The Houston, Texas-based company acquired Permian shale oil producer CrownRock in a US$12 billion deal last year to boost its presence in the largest US oilfield.
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Buffett also owns warrants to purchase another 83.5 million shares of Occidental at US$59.62 per share, below Occidental’s closing price of US$60.20 on Monday.
Occidental shares, which have gained about 1 per cent this year, were marginally up in premarket trading on Tuesday. REUTERS
