Berkshire Hathaway boosts bet on oil ahead of shareholder meeting, makes Chevron 4th-largest investment
Warren Buffett praised the US ability to produce 11 million barrels of oil daily
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Berkshire Hathaway has increased its stake in oil and gas by investing further in Chevron and Occidental, taking Chevron into the top four stocks in the company’s portfolio.
Berkshire disclosed its regulatory filing, revealing that Chevron now makes up $25.9 billion of the nearly $388 billion portfolio. The other three top stocks are Apple, which makes up almost half the portfolio with a titanic $159.1 billion investment; Bank of America with $42.6 billion and American Express with $28.4 billion.
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The company also now owns 14% of Occidental Petroleum, indicating strong confidence in oil and gas. Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, said that he decided Occidental was a "good place" to put money after reading an annual report.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVX | CHEVRON CORP. | 162.21 | +0.28 | +0.17% |
| OXY | OCCIDENTAL PETROLEUM CORP. | 50.42 | -0.16 | -0.32% |
| XOM | EXXON MOBIL CORP. | 117.83 | -0.23 | -0.19% |
| BP | BP PLC | 28.99 | -0.32 | -1.09% |
"We decided it made sense," he said, noting that no one can know the price of gas next year, let alone a few years into the future.
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"It’s quite apparent now, I think, that we are – we should be very happy that we can produce 11 million barrels a day, or something of the sort, rather than being able to produce none and having to find 11 million barrels a day somewhere else in the world to take care of keeping the American industrial machine working."
Philanthropist Warren Buffett is joined onstage by 24 other philanthropist and influential business people featured on the Forbes list of 100 Greatest Business Minds during the Forbes Media Centennial Celebration at Pier 60 on September 19, 2017 in New York City. | Getty Images
Between the $10 billion investment in Occidental preferred and the substantial investment in Chevron, Berkshire has bet over $40 billion on the oil sector. Preliminary data for 2021 from the U.S. Energy Information Energy indicates U.S. crude oil production averaged 11.185 million barrels per day.
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Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting kicks off on Saturday, with Buffett and Vice Chairman Charlie Munger sharing their investing insights and answering questions from investors. This year, Buffett and Munger will share the spotlight with Buffett’s eventual successor, Vice Chairman Greg Abel, along with Vice Chairman Ajit Jain, who runs Berkshire’s vast insurance business.
Buffett himself is predicting a record-breaking crowd of more than 40,000, although Berkshire later put out a statement downplaying that number.
FOX Business's Liz Claman contributed to this report.