Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway plows another $582 million into Occidental Petroleum, boosting its stake in the energy giant to nearly $10 billion

The value of Warren Buffet's stake in the energy company has gone up to nearly $10 billion.

The famed investor's conglomerate paid just under $60 a share for nearly 9.9% of their shares. A 17.4% stake in the oil-and-gas explorer and producer is now owned by it.

Between February 28 and March 16 there was a $7 billion investment by the company. One of the most active buying periods in the company's history took place in the first quarter of this year.

In addition to its common shares, the company has 100,000 preferred shares of Occidental worth $10 billion and stock warrants that allow it to buy another 83.9 million common shares for $5 billion. The $10 billion of financing for the merger was provided in exchange for those.

The warrants' exercise price was higher than the stock's closing price. If the warrants are exercised and the shares are sold at the current market price, the company would make a $70 million profit.

If the goal of the acquisition is to acquire the entire company, the resulting shares could be retained by the company. An analyst at Truist Securities suggested that Warren Buffet might try to buy the energy group once it repays some of its debt.

Several oil-and-gas companies have benefited from Russia's invasion of Ukraine which has disrupted global energy supplies. In the first five months of the year, Occidental's stock price more than doubled, but since then it has fallen by more than a third.

After CEO Vicki Hollub pledged in February to improve the company's operations, reduce debt, hike dividends, relaunch stock, and generate large, sustainable free cash flows over the long term, billionaire investor Warren Buffet warmed to the company.

"What Vicki Hollub was saying made no difference," said Warren Buffet during the annual shareholders' meeting. He said that it was a good place to put the money of the company.

In the spring, the trading of Occidental shares resulted in a 14.0% stake in just over two weeks for the company. Some of America's largest companies like poker chips were accused of being treated like a casino by him.

The country was sitting around trading in March. It defies anything that Charlie and I have seen and we've seen a lot.

As interest rates spike, a key theme the firm is focusing on is recession-proof investing.