If You'd Invested in Occidental Petroleum Like Warren Buffett, Here's How Much You'd Be Worth
Oil has certainly had a wild ride in 2026, and it has thrust many oil companies like Occidental Petroleum (OXY) back into the limelight.
Warren Buffett first bought shares in 2019, and has (mostly) increased holdings since then. So how would you have done, if you’d bought shares like Berkshire Hathaway did?
Consider This: 8 Proven Ways To Get Rich Without Stock Investing
Learn More: 7 Low-Effort Ways To Make Passive Income (You Can Start This Week)
Warren Buffett’s Investments in OXY
In April 2019, Berkshire Hathaway worked out an equity investment of $10 billion in Occidental Petroleum to help them buy Anadarko Petroleum. The preferred stock deal paid Berkshire an 8% dividend, per the SEC.
By the third quarter of 2019, Buffett liked what he saw from OXY enough to buy 7.47 million common shares at $47.28, according to StockCircle. The next quarter he doubled down, buying another 11.5 million shares at $40.06.
Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic hit shortly thereafter, and Buffett unloaded those shares at a loss. He clearly felt some seller’s remorse after that, as he went on to buy another 29.8 million shares on March 1, 2022, at $46.79. Since then, he’s gone on to buy another 34 rounds of shares.
How Much You’d Have
Ignoring the first investments that Buffett sold during the pandemic, imagine you’d made that first investment at $46.79 a share and held them.
Berkshire Hathaway invested roughly $1.39 billion, which Stoculator estimates would have grown to $1.55 billion if you’d reinvested dividends. That comes to an annualized return of $2.5%, which is nothing to write home about.
Buffett’s investments from there only worsen the results, as his combined investments average a share purchase price of $54.20. Occidental Petroleum currently trades at $48.91, and StockCircle estimates that Berkshire has taken a 9.8% loss on their OXY holdings.
Investing Lessons
The Oracle of Omaha plays a longer game than most investors and has continued buying up shares in OXY as recently as February 2025. He sees value there, despite short-term gyrations in oil and OXY share prices.
Even so, Buffett doesn’t recommend stock picking for the average investor. He wrote in his 1993 letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders: “By periodically investing in an index fund, for example, the know-nothing investor can actually out-perform most investment professionals.”
Financial publisher Mahendra Balal of Sovereix summarizes Buffett’s philosophy: “By consistently dollar-cost averaging into a low-cost S&P 500 index fund — regardless of what the economy or the news cycle is doing — you are essentially buying a slice of the broader American economy. It removes the emotional stress of trading, minimizes fees and historically outperforms the vast majority of active Wall Street managers.”
Buffett believes in simplicity and consistency. Whether his investment in OXY ultimately proves prescient or disastrous, the average investor can learn from Buffett in one of two ways. They can either keep it simple and invest in index funds, or they can read all of Buffett’s stock-vetting strategies and try to follow in his footsteps.
One of those strategies is a lot easier than the other, and arguably comes with much lower risk.
This article was provided by MoneyLion.com for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial, legal or tax advice.
More From MoneyLion: