Warren Buffett’s firm owns nearly $11B of Occidental stock

By JOSH FUNK, AP Business Writer

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway now owns nearly $11 billion worth of Occidental Petroleum stock after buying another 1.9 million shares in the past week.

The latest purchases Berkshire reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission Monday give the Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate control of 19.4% of the oil producer’s stock.

Berkshire is quickly approaching owning more than 20% of Houston-based Occidental’s shares. At that point, Berkshire would be able to start reporting a proportional share of Occidental’s earnings within its own earnings reports, which would give Berkshire a significant boost.

Berkshire has bought more than $1.3 billion worth of Occidental shares this month alone, and now holds nearly 181.7 million shares.