Warren Buffett Boosts Occidental Stake to More Than 25% of Oil Producer

Berkshire bought 2.1 million shares for $122 million in a series of purchases between June 26 and 28, according to regulatory filings. For much of the past year, Buffett’s investment vehicle has been snapping up Occidental shares when the price dips below $60.

Occidental rose as much as 1.8% on Thursday before surrendering some those gains. The shares were up 0.9% to $57.97 at 12:18 p.m. in New York. The advance trimmed the stock’s year-to-date loss to 8%, roughly in line with the performance of the S&P 500 energy index.

Berkshire is Occidental’s biggest shareholder with a stake worth $13 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Last year, Berkshire won approval from US regulators to acquire as much as 50% of the oil explorer.