Occidental Petroleum (OXY.US) stock rose sharply in premarket after recent regulatory filing showed Berkshire Hathaway significantly increased its stake recently. Warren Buffett’s conglomerate acquired over 61 million of oil giant shares from Wednesday to Friday, at prices ranging from $47.07 to $56.45. Berkshire said it owns 91.2 million Occidental shares, or nearly 10% of those outstanding.
At the same time other billionaire Carl Icahn exited Occidental Petroleum stock, according to WSJ. Icahn increased its position from 2.5% to around 10% in 2020, taking advantage of the company's stock drop, but has now shed its position in a context of rising energy prices due to Russia's aggression on Ukraine.
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Create account Try a demo Download mobile app Download mobile appMany investors believe that the ongoing tense geopolitical situation and high oil prices will have a positive impact on the company's performance in the future as US drillers focus on domestic assets, while oil giants exit joint ventures with Russian companies. Today the US House and Senate have announced an agreement on legislation to suspend normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus. That includes banning Russian energy imports.
Also protracted negotiations with Iran put additional upward price pressures. Today Secretary of State Blinken during a meeting with Israel Foreign minister Lapid said that the US is committed that Iran must never obtain a nuclear weapon. Meanwhile Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said in a call with their Iranian counterpart that Moscow supports Tehrans's logical demands in the nuclear talks. Now oil investors will focus on any moves from Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members. Last week the cartel held their monthly output increase to 400,000 barrels per day.
Occidental Petroleum (OXY.US) stock price nearly doubled last week as oil prices soared to their highest level in about a decade. Nevertheless buyers failed to break above resistance at $58.00 which coincides with 61.8% Fibonacci retracement of the last downward wave. Source: xStation5
